Former NBA head coach Stan Van Gundy has stimulated debates with his recent comments on the Knuckleheads podcast. Stan Van Gundy has had multiple tenures in the NBA as a head coach.
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Some of the franchises he represented include the Miami Heat between 2003 and 2005 and the Orlando Magic for a five-year period between 2007 and 2012. Most recently the New Orleans Pelicans for a year, incepting in 2020 up until 2021.
Van Gundy’s tenure with the organizations saw him coach several A-List talents. The most notable are four-time NBA champion, Shaquille O’Neal, three-time NBA champion Dwayne Wade and eight-time NBA All-Star Dwight Howard.
Van Gundy’s influence on these talents is often undermined, but nonetheless lasting. He laid the foundation for Wade and O’Neal to help them capture the franchise’s first-ever, title a year after his departure.
He is most famous for leading the Orlando Magic to their last NBA Finals in 2009. Van Gundy’s protagonist at the time was Howard. Howard’s athleticism and defence anchored the Magic to their first NBA Finals since 1994.
Van Gundy recently made certain intriguing comments when he opted for his Orlando Magic, Superman in his starting five of players he has coached, while conveniently leaving out the star who initially donned the Superman persona, Shaq.
Stan Van Gundy picks Dwight Howard over Shaquille O’Neal
The 63-year-old was brought on as a guest on the prominent Knuckleheads podcast by former NBA players Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson. Van Gundy spoke highly of Flash, Diesel and indulged in conversations revolving around other topics as well.
Van Gundy said:
“Listen, Shaq to me is one of the best players the league has ever had, and no one, not Jordan, not Kobe, no one made you like change your entire defence more than Shaq…so I just want to be clear on the knuckleheads podcast that I am not putting Dwight up ahead of Shaq.
He continued:
“But when I had Dwight for longer, and when he was younger and when he was in his prime. So Id take Dwight and Wade”
The head coach’s comments were thoroughly translucent, which is precisely why he reiterated that he was in no way, shape or form, placing Howard over O’Neal on the all-time list.
But in his defence, when he had acquired O’Neal, the former NBA MVP was past his athletic prime, and had started to diminish in his output and productivity.
Not to forget, this was around the time he had begun to enter the twilight years of his career. With Howard, Van Gundy had a fresh and hungry star who had the desire to win. Therefore it’s comprehensible why he opted for Howard over O’Neal.
Orlando Magic Dwight Howard was a sublime player
The Orlando Magic version of Dwight Howard was truly a petrifying sight. At the height of his prowess, Howard was elected to five straight NBA First Teams between 2008 and 2012.
In fact, he guided the Magic to the NBA Finals in 2009 and averaged 15.4 points, 15.2 rebounds and 4.0 blocks in 5 games against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.
youtube.com/watch?v=rHXdL2bbNF8
Although they lost, Howard solidified his status as one of the leading Big Men in the league as well as the history of the sport.
