Stan Van Gundy Fed Up With Criticism Of Dwight Howard

AP Photo/David Zalubowsk

Bill Simmons of ESPN.com recently called Dwight Howard the second-most valuable player in basketball but thought that Howard was too soft to ever win a championship. A few days later, Orlando Sentinel columnist George Diaz shared Simmons’ sentiments calling Howard a “tail-wagging, happy-go-lucky puppy.”

“If you want to be critical of our team, I could’ve thought of about 50 to 100 people and things you could’ve been critical of before it was Dwight Howard because he smiles during a game or something,” Van Gundy said. “I mean, I guess George would rather have a guy who gets eight [points] and two [rebounds] and scowls. That would help us more. I mean, [Howard] is playing unbelievable basketball.

“And, look, I don’t care what your athletic ability is, you don’t get 15 rebounds, 17 rebounds, seven blocks, five blocks if you’re not playing hard.”

“For whatever reason, though, it’s not just here locally,” Van Gundy added later. “The national media, he’s just a guy that gets [dumped] on. You would think that he’s not one of the elite players in the league. I guess people haven’t noticed his offensive improvement. I don’t think anybody’s paying attenti0n, the stuff I read about him. If there’s guys in the league playing better than he is right now, there’s like two or three of them. There are not many doing what he’s doing. He has carried our team.”

Van Gundy noted that he recently read or heard a comparison made between Howard and the Boston Celtics’ Kevin Garnett that was unflattering toward Howard.

“Kevin Garnett has been in this league forever and he’s won six playoff series in his career,” Van Gundy said. “Dwight’s won four and he’s 23 years old [actually, 24]. That’s a pretty good comparison. Why is Kevin Garnett a great winner and Dwight Howard’s not? I don’t get it.

“And if you’re just going to go by titles, Kevin Garnett’s got one, and Dwight’s got as many as LeBron’s got. But LeBron’s a great winner and Dwight [isn't]? I don’t get it.”

Josh Robbins has the story here.

Robbins made sure to point out that Van Gundy did not sound or look angry and reiterated that he liked Diaz.

Some people think think Van Gundy and Howard have a rocky relationship because Howard likes to make of Van Gundy and Van Gundy called Howard out during the postseason last year, but Van Gundy has always come to the defense of Howard and continues to do so.

To think that the league’s most dominant defensive presence, best rebounder, best overall big man, and a player who’s offensive game is seemingly getting better each day is the problem with a team that currently has the third-best record in the NBA and advanced to the NBA Finals last year seems a bit ridiculous. Van Gundy agreed and came to his player’s defense and I’m sure Howard appreciated it.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily and you can get the HTD app here.)