It’s been four years since one of the most hilariously awkward NBA exchanges of all time. It involved Stan Van Gundy and Dwight Howard, and Howard has told his side of that story for the first time.
Recall that Van Gundy, then coach of the Orlando Magic, told the media that he knew Howard, his star player, wanted him fired. Moments later, an aloof Howard came over and put his arm around the coach and denied what Van Gundy had just told him.
Howard says the whole situation was just one big misunderstanding.
“So much of what happened in Orlando was brought out the wrong way,” Howard told ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan in an interview posted Thursday. “When I walked over to Stan that day, people say that I knew what Stan was saying. I had no clue. I remember it like it happened yesterday. I felt my life changed that day.
“People decided that day I was some kind of bad guy. I don’t think people realized what happened.”
Howard still denies that he demanded Van Gundy’s firing, saying that he had a conversation with team owner Rich DeVos “months before” in which he shared his belief that his coach was losing the locker room.
“I told Rich the truth,” Howard said. “I told him, ‘I love Stan. I think he’s done a great job, but I think he’s lost his voice in the locker room.’ It wasn’t, ‘Hey, I want Stan fired or else.’ I was never upset with Stan at any point. It wasn’t anything personal against Stan. He knows that. It’s just over the past couple of years I could see a lot of the guys had lost their faith in him.”
It should be noted that there were so many reports at the time stating that Howard was absolutely done with Van Gundy. Howard tries to play it off like he was just doing right by his teammates, but there was definitely more at play there than just that. Dwight says that he and Van Gundy have patched things up and he’s even issued an apology to the city of Orlando, so he knows he didn’t handle himself well, but even now it seems like Howard can’t admit that he was at least partially culpable for Van Gundy’s firing.
