There are two theories regarding the firing of Stan Van Gundy: the Magic are looking to start fresh, or they know their only chance of keeping Dwight Howard was to fire their head coach. With rumors floating around that the Magic are looking to deal Howard around draft time, the former is a definite possibility. However, Jeff Van Gundy fully believes Howard drove his brother out of Orlando and that it’s insulting for the Magic to pretend otherwise.
“To hide behind the fact or try to make everyone believe that Dwight Howard didn’t have a part in this is absurd,” Jeff Van Gundy said during an interview with 98.7 ESPN in New York. “Say listen we fired this guy because we know this our best chance to keep Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard and I decided to fire him. To do anything else is playing a game of semantics. It really is.
“Okay listen (CEO Alex Martins) all you have done in your 25 years in the business is release press releases and run the business side. You don’t know if a ball is blown up or stuffed. You don’t know if the pick and roll coverage on the side is right or wrong. Just say that I have no knowledge about basketball. He doesn’t know one thing about basketball so please hold off your comments on my brothers expertise since you know nothing about basketball.”
The situation in Orlando has been a public relations nightmare all season long, and we all knew this is the way it was going to end. Perhaps the Magic are trying to rebuild and firing their head coach and general manager and trading their star player is the best way to go about it. That being said, we know Dwight’s unhappiness spelled the end for Van Gundy. To pretend Howard had nothing to do with it is indeed absurd.
