They parted ways with general manager Otis Smith.
You are now the de facto coach and general manager of the team. You are calling the shots now. The flagging franchise is in your hands. You can either heal it and bring it back to life by signing a contract extension or you can squash it by abandoning it to go play for Jay-Z’s team in New York.
What’s it going to be, Dwight?
"The decision is up to Dwight now," Magic CEO Alex Martins said Monday after announcing that both Van Gundy and Smith have been relieved of their duties. "Dwight needs to decide where his future lies. It’s been well-documented what our desires are. Now Dwight needs to decide what his are."
Martins did his best Monday to keep the blood of Van Gundy’s firing off of Dwight’s hands. He tried to separate Dwight from the ugly process of firing the best coach the Magic have ever had. In fact, Martins did a spectacular spinning job by attempting to paint Van Gundy as the grumpy coach who has a problem "relating to players" while portraying Dwight as the innocent bystander who wanted nothing to do with Van Gundy’s firing.
Coming soon: Martins tries to sell us some oceanfront property in Topeka.
"I am saying in no uncertain terms that Dwight did not want to be part of this decision," Martins said. "He didn’t not want to make this decision. He never asked me to make this decision. … Dwight Howard never asked me to fire Stan Van Gundy."
But did he ask owner Rich DeVos? Did he ask former CEO Bob Vander Weide? Martins, who has only been the CEO during this lockout-shortened season, could not or would not answer those questions. All he would say is that Dwight "never asked me" to fire Van Gundy.
Not that it really matters. Martins and the Magic did what they had to do Monday, even if it meant jettisoning a coach who is considered one of the best in the league. Fans don’t buy tickets to watch Van Gundy draw on his chalkboard during timeouts. They buy tickets to watch Dwight dunk, defend and dominate. The Magic absolutely have to do everything in their power to keep Dwight because right now he is the only thing that keeps them relevant as a franchise.
And let’s face it, Dwight would not be the first NBA superstar to get a coach fired. Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson did it. So did Kobe and Shaq. But there’s a big difference: All of those superstars stayed with their teams and led them to championships.
This why the Magic are now staring at a potentially devastating PR problem. They have just fired their second-most valuable commodity and one of the top coaches in the league in Van Gundy. What happens now if their No. 1 commodity – Dwight – still decides he wants out to go play somewhere else?
