In the strangest moment in a number of surreal moments for the Magic this season surrounding center Dwight Howard and his future with the team, Van Gundy acknowledged that management told him Howard asked that he be fired.
"I know he has," Van Gundy told reporters Thursday at after the team's shootaround prior to the Magic's home 96-80 home loss against the New York Knicks. "That's just the way it is. Again, I've been dealing with that all year. It's not anything real bothersome. You go out and do your job."
After the game, Howard avoided the topic, answering "next question" to almost every query about Van Gundy's comments.
"I don't want to talk about it. That has nothing to do with the game," Howard said.
Van Gundy tried to look ahead.
"He and I met with (general manager Otis Smith)," Van Gundy said. "Look, we've been together all this year. We've been together for five years. We know each other very well. Dwight will go out there and play and I'll go out there and coach. That's the understanding. We know that."
Magic guard J.J. Redick addressed the stressful situation within the locker room.
"I want to play for Stan, there's no question," Redick said. "I'm not a player that wants to make any statements regarding decisions. My job is to go out there, play hard and do my job on the court. And I hope that's with Stan coaching me."
How did Van Gundy know Howard wants him fired?
"I was told it was true by people in our management," Van Gundy said earlier in the day. "Right from the top."
Nearing the end of Van Gundy's revelatory and stunning session with reporters, Howard sidled up to Van Gundy and put his arm around him unaware what his coach just said.
"What's our main concern right now?" Howard said.
"We have to stop Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks," Van Gundy said.
"That's the plan, right?" Howard said.
"That is the plan. That's what I just said," Van Gundy said.
"Is Dave Ping here, the guy who started this B.S.?" Howard said. (WKMG-TV sports director Dave Pingalore reported Wednesday that Howard had asked management to fire Van Gundy.)
"I don't see Ping here. Are you guys done with me? You can talk to him now?" Van Gundy said.
After Van Gundy spoke Thursday, Howard continued to deny that he asked for Van Gundy to be fired.
"Dwight, are the stories true?" a reporter said.
"C'mon, man," Howard said.
"Stan just said the stories are true," a reporter replied.
"Yeah, what's true?"
"Stan just said that you wanted him fired."
"I said that?"
"That's what Stan said."
"Who did I say that to? I'm asking you since you guys have so many sources."
"Your coach said he heard it from management."
"I didn't hear anything."
"I'm just telling you what he said."
"And I'm just telling you."
"Do you want Stan fired?"
"What did I just say yesterday? I know you guys watch ESPN. You guys are lying. Don't say you don't watch ESPN. The only thing we're concerned with is winning a championship right now. Whatever happens at the end of the season is not under my control. I am a player for the Magic. I am not the GM. I am not (Magic owner) Rich DeVos. I am not (team CEO) Alex Martins.
"That's not my job, so you guys should stop with all the every other week trying to find something because there's nothing. There's nothing. I haven't said anything to anybody about anything. Our main concern is winning, so all the other stuff should stop."
It has been a trying season for Van Gundy and the Magic, with so much speculation centered around Howard and his future, especially since the lockout ended in late November and in the final week before the March 15 trade deadline.
Van Gundy said before the trade deadline that he wasn't worried about his future with the team, that he was tired of all the questions about Howard and just wanted to coach.
Hours before the trade deadline expired, Howard, who prior to the start of the season privately requested a trade, agreed to opt in to the final year of his contract and play for the Magic in 2012-13.
It was a relief for Magic fans and executives. However, it was also just a temporary end to the circus, and Van Gundy apparently knew it.
If Howard doesn't sign an extension this summer, he can become an unrestricted free agent after 2012-13.
"We're set up to go through it all again next year," Van Gundy said March 15.
When the report surfaced Wednesday that Howard wanted Van Gundy out, the coach gave his response serious consideration and then unleashed.
"Since everything came out yesterday, I'll be honest. You know you're going to get asked and you think about how you're going to respond and the whole thing," he said. "The only thing I'm ever uncomfortable with is (expletive). To come in and no-comment or deny that it's true and everything ? The only thing I guess that liberates me is (to) be honest and deal with what's out there.
"Some people have a hard time with that I guess. To me that's a lot easier to deal with than (expletive)."
Van Gundy is 366-201 in seven-plus seasons with the Miami Heat and Magic. He led the Magic to back-to-back 59-23 seasons in 2008-09 and 2009-10 with a 4-1 series loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2009 NBA Finals.
But the Magic lost to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals in 2010 and lost to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round last season.
The Magic are 32-23 and in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings. They have lost five in a row as Howard (back spasms), forward Ryan Anderson (sprained right ankle) and point guard Jameer Nelson (sore left calf) have missed games recently.
At times, the Magic have looked like a team capable of making a run at the Eastern Conference finals. They have beaten the Miami Heat (twice), Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, plus other playoff-bound teams. Orlando has also lost to some of the league's worst teams ? the Charlotte Bobcats and Washington Wizards? and scored less than 60 points in two games.
"We're in a bad time right now," Van Gundy said after the Knicks loss. "We're not the deepest team in the world anyway, and we have guys that are hurt. We're not playing well at all. We have no rhythm, with different guys in and out. It's a very bad time.
"We have three weeks to go, 11 games, and we have to have some faith that we can get back to playing how we were three weeks ago. Everything has changed for the bad in the last two weeks. We have to get back to when things were good, two or three weeks ago. That's the focus right now."
After what happened Thursday, it may have become more difficult for the Magic to pick up the pieces and make a run at a championship.
Contributing: Alex Kennedy, HoopsWorld
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomSports-TopStories/~3/oiaF0kmPV5M/1
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