Report: Howard won't play for Van Gundy

[swi7ch]

Magic center Dwight Howard has called team owner Rich DeVos to tell him that he won't play for coach Stan Van Gundy anymore, WKMG in Orlando is reporting.


Howard missed his sixth straight game with a back injury Wednesday against the Celtics, and Van Gundy has already said that he is preparing for his big man to miss the rest of the season and the playoffs.


Howard is still upset that Van Gundy publicly said this month that Howard asked management to have him fired, sources told WKMG. According to the report, the 86-year-old DeVos took Howard's call in his suite at the Amway Center sometime during Friday's game against the Hawks.


Uncertainty has dogged the Magic for quite some time. Howard asked management for a trade in the preseason, but after months of speculation he signed a waiver of the opt-out clause in his contract, meaning that he would remain under contract to Orlando at least through next season.

[caliman]

What a bitch. This dude has surpassed LeBron in terms of being a straight up douche, and I didn't think that ws possible after the summer of 2011.

[InspiredLebowski]

During a game? Really Dwight?

Whatever, good deal. Plenty of rest for the Pacers after they sweep the Magic.

[AirTupac]

What a bitch. This dude has surpassed LeBron in terms of being a straight up douche, and I didn't think that ws possible after the summer of 2011.

Didn't think it was possible, but I agree with that statement. Dwight has just become plain annoying now. Would love to see his ass shipped to the bobcats.

[Clocian-IGN]

I don't side with what dwight did this year but we gonna act like dwight doesn't have a legit back injury. more than likely a false report to make dwight look even worse.

[Soundwave]

Stan should've been fired the moment he made those comments public.

End ... of ... story.

The Magic organization is at fault for letting this drag on like this and this is not at all unpredictable. Coach publicly throws the franchise player under the bus and the organization just sits there and does nothing.

Dwight's a b*tch sure, but you can't as a coach go running around airing the franchise's dirty laundry in public.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Howard is acting like such an idiot. He should've kept his mouth shut, played out the season and signed wherever he wanted, while at least seeing what this team could do. At the very least this could've been a better team than the '11 Magic with Anderson's improvement.

I have no idea what his problem is with Van Gundy either, but I don't agree that superstars should be able to get away with asking their coaches to be fired.

And in my opinion, Van Gundy has done a fine job as the coach. Otis Smith is the one who has done a poor job and deserves to be fired if anyone does.

I don't get why Howard agreed to stay another year, if he has such a problem with Van Gundy and wanted out, he should've just opted out instead of this public trade demand nonsense.

Van Gundy was unprofessional making the comments public, but Howard has been even worse.

It's a shame because he's a phenomenal player, but I've lost a lot of respect for him, and whatever he's trying to accomplish with his childish actions, he's failing at it.

[It's A VC3!!!]

Orlando's management sucks. Why spill the beans on Dwight wanting Stan fired. It was meant to be a private conversation. That's a lack of trust and intelligence. Also why threaten Dwight just for him to stay. I feel like a broken record. That management sucks. Starting with Otis Smith. Enjoy the victory Indiana. When was the last time the Pacers advanced past the first round? 15 years ago.

And Howard was put in a terrible situation confronted by reporters asking him why he wants SVG fired. He even asked reporters who spilled the beans. Again the management is terrible. Otis Smith is the moron.

[R.I.P.]

The Lakers really dodged a bullet with Howard. Not only is Bynum playing better currently, he also appears to be healthier, more mature and mentally stable than Howard.

[wang4three]

It's sad how Dwight's penchant to be love is the exact thing that is destroying his reputation.

[InspiredLebowski]

If it wouldn't destroy his chances at another job I'd love for SVG to just go nuclear. The way the guy's been jerked around in the NBA I feel bad for him. Just go on some Orlando radio show and air all the dirty laundry, put it all out there.

[Whoah10115]

When was the last time the Pacers advanced past the first round? 15 years ago.

8.

[Sarcastic]

If I were Dwight, I wouldn't play for SVG either. He stabbed Dwight in the back in public.

[mentallooser]

Orlando's management sucks. Why spill the beans on Dwight wanting Stan fired. It was meant to be a private conversation. That's a lack of trust and intelligence. Also why threaten Dwight just for him to stay. I feel like a broken record. That management sucks. Starting with Otis Smith. Enjoy the victory Indiana. When was the last time the Pacers advanced past the first round? 15 years ago.

And Howard was put in a terrible situation confronted by reporters asking him why he wants SVG fired. He even asked reporters who spilled the beans. Again the management is terrible. Otis Smith is the moron.

Wellll it wasn't 15 years ago, but it has been a long time. I'll enjoy moving on to the second round. Hopefully the scrappiness we've got can get us even further.

[Nanners]

Howard is acting like such an idiot. He should've kept his mouth shut, played out the season and signed wherever he wanted, while at least seeing what this team could do. At the very least this could've been a better team than the '11 Magic with Anderson's improvement.

I have no idea what his problem is with Van Gundy either, but I don't agree that superstars should be able to get away with asking their coaches to be fired.

And in my opinion, Van Gundy has done a fine job as the coach. Otis Smith is the one who has done a poor job and deserves to be fired if anyone does.

I don't get why Howard agreed to stay another year, if he has such a problem with Van Gundy and wanted out, he should've just opted out instead of this public trade demand nonsense.

Van Gundy was unprofessional making the comments public, but Howard has been even worse.

It's a shame because he's a phenomenal player, but I've lost a lot of respect for him, and whatever he's trying to accomplish with his childish actions, he's failing at it.

I almost always agree with you, i dunno about this time. I think it is pretty ironic that Howard starts missing games with a back injury right after his team stabs him in the back. For some reason this is how I imagine that things went down:

Management was absolutely desperate to make Howard stay, they probably told him "look we will do literally anything you want for you to stay, you name it." Howard must have responded "Ok i will stay another year but I want a new coach." and somehow that gets translated into "Dwight wants SVG fired." If the organization says they will bend over backward for you to stay there, they shouldnt hang you out to dry when you tell them you want a new coach. I agree that Van Gundy has done a fine job as a coach, but Howard has the right to ask for a new one if management told him they would do anything to keep him in Orlando.