Two days after Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy shocked reporters and, more importantly, Dwight Howard by claiming that a source in the Magic front office had told him that Howard wanted him fired, it is the coach who appears to be losing the battle of public opinion.
If Van Gundy cares what anyone thinks, of course, he has done an amazing job of hiding it in his eight years as an NBA head coach. The next politically correct thing out of his mouth will probably be the first.
Regardless, while the fans might take their frustrations out on Howard — the reaction by the Amway Center crowd toward its star center on Thursday ranged from booing to outright disinterest — the NBA media cognoscenti appeared to have decided Van Gundy was in the wrong.
It cannot quite be said that Van Gundy broke his silence, because Van Gundy never really has a silence to break. But by clearing the air in a way neither the Magic organization nor Howard's camp has dared, Van Gundy presumably became the latest sports figure to break the code of the locker room.
The fallout from the New Orleans Saints' bounty controversy brought "the code" into full relief. Curiously, the most vocal NFL players were not outraged that a misguided coach was offering monetary rewards to injure them. They instead were angry that someone in the Saints locker room had "violated the trust" of his teammates by disclosing the vile practice the media.
It should not have to be said that this is ludicrous. Unfortunately, it must be.
Think about this. Howard apparently is miffed that Van Gundy told people that Howard tried to get him fired. Maybe Van Gundy could have kept that information to himself, but Howard allegedly tried to get his coach fired. Trying to cast disdain on Van Gundy for being a snitch seems more than a little corrupt when Howard easily could have, oh, I don't know, not tried to get Van Gundy fired.
A star NBA player is far more valuable than an outstanding NBA coach, or so the thinking goes. The fact that Van Gundy won without Howard before and will assuredly win without Howard, whether in Orlando or elsewhere, probably will not prevent the franchise from siding with Howard when they get down to brass tacks.
The talk of "keeping it in the family" and not breaking the "code" may be valid on some level, but in the case of the Magic's ongoing saga, it only redirects the conversation from the key point. If Howard really did tell Magic management that he wanted Van Gundy fired, it is fairly obvious who is in the wrong. And it is not Van Gundy.
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