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Stan Van Gundy liberates himself in exposing Dwight Howard's power play for a new Magic coach - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
Within the Orlando Magic, there were those suspicious of the possibility that Dwight Howard could’ve played the past two games with so-called back spasms, sources told Yahoo! Sports. Only Howard knows his threshold for pain, but everyone else knows this for a fact: His threshold for criticism is far less, and the possibility of becoming the bad guy for Stan Van Gundy’s eventual dismissal troubled him far more.
Howard has been calling for the firing of Van Gundy since the summer of 2011, a source close to the coach said, and those demands have included the dismissal of general manager Otis Smith, too. The Magic locker room has been divided for most of the season – most siding with Van Gundy, some with Howard, sources say – and it had reached a critical mass with Howard sitting out losses this week to Denver and Detroit.
“The organization has allowed Dwight to set up the coach,” a league source close to management and the coach said. “They have to have a reason to blame someone. If they win, and he gets fired, everyone will know it’s on the player. Losing gives everyone the out when the season’s over, especially Howard.”
So Van Gundy walked into Thursday morning’s shoot-around, a fresh batch of reports surfacing that Howard wants him out, with a decision made in his mind: No more lying. Van Gundy was done playing make-believe. He was done dodging, denying and, yes, lying. He told the truth.
Howard has been calling for the firing of Van Gundy since the summer of 2011, a source close to the coach said, and those demands have included the dismissal of general manager Otis Smith, too. The Magic locker room has been divided for most of the season – most siding with Van Gundy, some with Howard, sources say – and it had reached a critical mass with Howard sitting out losses this week to Denver and Detroit.
“The organization has allowed Dwight to set up the coach,” a league source close to management and the coach said. “They have to have a reason to blame someone. If they win, and he gets fired, everyone will know it’s on the player. Losing gives everyone the out when the season’s over, especially Howard.”
So Van Gundy walked into Thursday morning’s shoot-around, a fresh batch of reports surfacing that Howard wants him out, with a decision made in his mind: No more lying. Van Gundy was done playing make-believe. He was done dodging, denying and, yes, lying. He told the truth.
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