Stan Van Gundy: Dwight Howard has asked Orlando Magic management to fire him

[StartOrien]

Theres not really much to blow up in Orlando... I honestly dont know how they've been able to win so many games. I think Howards presence alone has carried them over the years. Turk is old and slow, Anderson has had a very lucky season playing out of his mind, Nelson doesnt do it for me, Baby speaks for himself, and Redick is their best bench player which isnt saying much, richardson can score but isnt a contenders dream. If they blow it up and rebuild they wont be getting much in return.

Good coaching

[colincb]

By all accounts BBD is there because of DH. Awful trade.

[BballTim]

And minutes later Dwight Howard walked into the room, hugged SVG, and then denied the reports. Apparently he even challenged reporters over whom their source was.

I'm not making this up, just wow.

  Howard's heading down the LeBron path of wanting to be loved but inadvertently doing things that alienate everyone. Getting the (supposed) power to fire your coach and gm is quite a curse. You'll get the blame when either of them leave, no matter the reason. You'll also get the criticism if their replacements aren't obvious improvements. You could see what a no-win situation it was from the start.

[SHAQATTACK]

By all accounts BBD is there because of DH. Awful trade.

No its not...Its a "GREAT " trade

We made out like Bandits 

[Marcus13]

Dwight needs to go, but they need to get a passably good rebuilding package for him, or one from Chicago/NYK that allow them to remain a playoff team(I still think a swap of Melo and Dwight makes the most sense for both teams). His trade value will only go down(again) as we approach next season's trade deadline.

[ManUp]

Lol, by the end of this people are going to be praising Bron for his decisiveness and professionalism when compared to Howard. Howard is now the guy who smiles in your face after stabbing you in the back. Opting in may turn out to be absolutely disasterous for Howard.

[CelticSooner]

Check this out.

SVG says the rumors are true. Howard comes in with smug look on his face like nothing is wrong. This guy is a snake.

http://www.nba.com/magic/video/2012/04/05/040512svghowardfiredreportsm4v-2057675

[cman88]

This situation reminds me of lebron with the cavs befire he left. He had pretty much total control of the personnel decisions and coaches...and in tbe e even after being given everything he jumped ship

I see the same happening here. I'm tired of these self absorbed superstars

[jgod213]

I mean what is the actual tension here?

Is it that Dwight can't take a coach who demands certain things out of him? Does he just generally not like SVG's coaching philosophy? I just don't get why he's all buddy buddy with Otis Smith, who in all these years can't figure out who to surround Howard with, but he can't make it work with SVG.

[edwardjkasche]

And, there are people on this site that wanted nothing more than to have Dwight Howard join our franchise. 

Shame.  Shame on you.  It's been SO obvious all along.

He is an over-privileged baby who wants only what he wants.  At 26yo, he wants to be player, coach, and Gm, and he has earned none of it.  He's a good center in a league devoid of centers, but he's immature and selfish and (obviously) cancerous to a franchise.

I won't defend SVG and the Magic (especially Otis Smith).  SVG is a fine coach who does wonders with what he's given.  They are battling for 3rd in the East right now (and nothing Dwight has done off-court this season has helped).  The organization deserves what's coming to it after how they caved to Dwight over the past few years, but the fans don't deserve it.  Dwight has directed this franchise to where they are by being immature and selfish.  We all know that the franchise will take years to recover from this, while Dwight sneaks his way out of town sometime in the next 12 months.  He's pathetic.

To think some people wanted this guy on the Celts!

[indeedproceed]

I still want Dwight Howard. I'd take LeBron too. Something about them being among the top 2 or 3 players on the planet is just alluring.

[rondohondo]

I still want Dwight Howard. I'd take LeBron too. Something about them being among the top 2 or 3 players on the planet is just alluring.

haha exactly

[Fafnir]

I mean what is the actual tension here?

Is it that Dwight can't take a coach who demands certain things out of him? Does he just generally not like SVG's coaching philosophy? I just don't get why he's all buddy buddy with Otis Smith, who in all these years can't figure out who to surround Howard with, but he can't make it work with SVG.

Because Otis Smith doesn't confront him for failing to close out on a shooter twice in the third quarter of a game during a film session.

Being the coach of an immature player who likely isn't getting anything other than smoke blown up his but has to be hard.

[Who]

I don't think Dwight Howard asked for SVG to be fired.

If he did, SVG would be gone already ... but SVG hasn't been fired. He is still there. No way Orlando would have refused to fire SVG if Dwight asked them to.

I expect that whoever in management told SVG that Dwight asked him to be fired is either misinterpreting comments made by Dwight Howard (perhaps accidentally or maybe even deliberately) or is playing politics behind the scenes.

[LooseCannon]

Anderson has had a very lucky season playing out of his mind,

Not true at all.  Anderson's statistics are pretty much in line with how he was playing last season (he's doing slightly better this season), only his mpg have bumped up from 22 to 31 while moving into the starting lineup.  And he's still only 23, so it is very reasonable to expect he will get better.