It's nothing we haven't seen before in the world of professional sports. The coach of the team versus the star player. Even though it isn't something we haven't seen before, it IS however, fairly new to the world of professional sports. Sadly, it is also something that is probably not going away.
Back in the day (and by "back in the day" I mean probably the 70's and earlier) this wasn't a problem. The coach or manager of a professional team was the unquestioned leader. Players played. The coach coached. The players had no impact on who their coach or manager was.
Can you imagine Babe Ruth telling Yankee ownership that he wanted Miller Huggins fired? Or Bill Russell or Bob Cousy saying that they just couldn't play for Red Auerback anymore? Can you imagine Ray Nitschke telling the press that Vince Lombardi had to go? Or Sid Luckman telling Georgo Halas he had to step down as coach of the Bears or he wanted to be traded? Things like this just didn't happen.
That all started to change in the 70's when Curt Flood challenged the baseball reserve clause, and Andy Messersmith and Catfish Hunter became the first winners in free agency, signing for millions.
Other sports followed suit. The athletes started being paid mo' money, mo' money and even mo' money. Sports fans today might be shocked to know it, but only about 40 years ago, most athletes had to work other "joe" jobs during their off-seasons.
Once the money started flowing toward the athletes in pro sports, they took control. Money is power, and these star athletes now realized they were the ones with all the power. John Elway didn't want to play in Baltimore, and because of his obvious future star power, forced a trade to Denver. Reggie Jackson basically told George Steinbrenner he couldn't play for Billy Martin anymore, forcing one of Billy's many Yankee firings. A young Michael Jordan didn't want to play for Doug Collins anymore, and Collins was shown the door. Same for Kobe Bryant, who basically said "it's either Del Harris or me" to Jerry West.
Now it's happening again, down in Florida this time, where Magic coach Stan Van Gundy told the media that he would love to come back and coach the Magic again next year. Dwight Howard, the superstar center for the Magic has told anyone and everyone that Van Gundy is one of the main reasons that he begged for a trade out of Disney World since the end of the 2010 season.
You'd think Van Gundy would know better. You 'd think he would know by now that when it comes to a player or a coach, it's ALWAYS the player who wins out. Van Gundy knows one thing though....having an NBA head coaching job is always better than NOT having one, and there aren't any guarantees that you are ever going to get another one.
I like Stan Van Gundy. Not just because he has local connections to the Rochester area either. I think he is an excellent coach. He's feisty and funny with the media. He doesn't take any crap. He knows his X's and O's and knows how to maximize his teams potential with the personnel they have.
His Magic have been undersized for the most part since he got there, other than Howard of course, so his offense of lots of motion, passing and finding open shooters around the perimeter has gotten them a lot of wins, and gotten the Magic into the playoffs every year. He made one finals appearance with Orlando, where they went up against a much more talented Lakers team. Fact is, they weren't the best team in the Eastern conference that year, but Van Gundy got them there.
Van Gundy's career coaching record is 371-208, which is a regular season win percentage of .641. His playoff career record is 48-39, or .554%. He has had good teams, but I also believe he has gotten the most out of them. That's all you can ask of a coach. A coach is not supposed to be everyone's best friend. A coach is not supposed to have everyone over to his house for a mid-season pizza party. This isn't the local YMCA league. A professional coach is supposed to do the job, coach his players, and win a lot of games. Stan Van Gundy has done just that.
Dwight Howard is a great player in the league. He is also charismatic. He is a rebounding machine, who plays great defense, and has really improved his low post game. He is the kind of player people want to pay to buy a ticket to watch play. I can understand how he would feel that he should have the authority to pick his coach that he wants to play for.
He shouldn't, of course. If I were Magic owner Rich DeVos, and if I had a great relationship with Van Gundy, I would pursue serious trade talks with other teams about Howard. I would chalk Howard up to being a malcontent, and offer his services to the team that makes me the best offer. If the Magic can get another star, go-to type big man (like a Pau Gasol), plus another quality starter plus perhaps a draft pick or something like that, for Howard, I would make that deal, because I know Van Gundy will be able to coach them.
Will that happen? I highly doubt it. If DeVos is forced to make a choice, it will be Van Gundy who will be hitting the bricks. It's too bad. It would be a nice precedent to set.
