When looking back on his NBA coaching days, Stan Van Gundy has one drafting decision he wishes he could re-do: not drafting Devin Booker to the Detroit Pistons in the 2015 NBA Draft.
The current Amazon Prime NBA analyst joined The Zach Lowe Show this week and said that his coaching career could still be going on if he took the Michigan-born player with the No. 8 pick when he was the Pistons head coach and president of basketball operations from 2014-2018.
“If I had drafted Devin Booker in Detroit, I might still be coaching but I did not,” Gundy said. “Every time Devin Booker has a great game, I kick myself — physically kick myself— just to make sure I feel that pain.”
Stan Van Gundy on drafting Stanley Johnson over Devin Booker
“If I had drafted him in Detroit, I might still be coaching. Every time Devin Booker has a great game, I kick myself — physically kick myself— just to make sure I feel that pain.”
H/T The Zach Lowe Show pic.twitter.com/rYRlZUecNV
— Pistons Talk (@Pistons__Talk) December 4, 2025
Gundy opted for former Arizona forward Stanley Johnson with the No. 8 pick. Johnson played for the Pistons for four seasons before being traded to the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2019 NBA season. Johnson is now playing for the Nagasaki Velca, a Japanese professional basketball team.
Gundy and the Pistons parted ways following the 2018 NBA season and he last coached in the NBA in 2021 for the Pelicans.
Meanwhile, Booker, drafted by Phoenix with the No. 13 pick, is now in his 11th season with the Suns where he is the team’s all-time leading scorer with 17,002 points. Booker has made the All-Star game four times, was named All-NBA First Team in 2022 and reached the NBA Finals in 2021. He also won two Olympic gold medals (2020, 2024) as part of the U.S. men’s national basketball team.
Booker signed a two-year contract extension with the Suns during the offseason worth $145 million that will run through the 2029-30 season.
