Dwight Howard: Magic Star's Squabbles with Coach Prove He's Not Long for Orlando

So let me get this straight—Dwight Howard is unhappy with the performance of general manager Otis Smith, he's not thrilled with the roster around him and his relationship with coach Stan Van Gundy needs mending.

And the Orlando Magic expect to keep him how?

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Howard and Van Gundy met for an hour during training camp to work on improving their line of player-coach communication.

Though by the look of things, it would seem as though this is a case of Superman whining and pointing fingers and management expecting Van Gundy to kowtow to his franchise player.

Here's what Van Gundy had to say about the situation:

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"I've got to set the standards, and I've got to make sure that they're adhered to in terms of guys playing hard and playing together and doing what we're supposed to do," Van Gundy said.

"If our players can take most of the leadership in that regard and police each other in terms of effort and things like that, that's all the better. I would love that. I think that's an ideal situation. And then when I see things I don't like, I've got to step in."

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Reasonable enough: coach lays out plan; coach expects players to adhere to plan; coach chastises players when they don't adhere to plan.

Now, here's Howard and the role that he and Jameer Nelson should play in all of this:

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Our job is to lead the guys on the court. We both have our ways that we lead the team, and they follow. The main thing is that people have to see that me and Stan are on the same page and we're not bumping heads. Then everything else will fall in line.

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Read: Howard wants his coach to play nice because if he doesn't, then Howard is going to get upset and ruin the team as a result. Wah.

I'd offer the big fella a tissue, but for some odd reason, I'm not all that sympathetic. Howard's a great player, to be sure, but Stan Van's no slouch in his own profession, either. The guy would've won a title in 2006 had Pat Riley not booted him out the door to add another ring to his already-bedazzled fingers. After a year out of the coaching world, Van Gundy took the job in Orlando, after Billy Donovan fled back to Florida, and promptly led the Magic to three straight Southeast division crowns, the second of which landed the Magic in the NBA Finals.

Stan Van's done the best he can with the roster he's been handed by Otis Smith, who's been in panic mode the last two years trying to keep the Magic competitive and Howard happy. Of course, Smith, too, has drawn criticism from DH12, who seems to think he knows more about putting together a roster than the man whose job it is to do so.

Not that Howard is necessarily wrong—you think he would've traded for Gilbert Arenas—but that, again, he's whiny and shortsighted.

If the Magic are smart, they'll realize they're better off trading their most prized inmate than letting him have his run of the asylum. Otherwise, folks in Orlando could in for another long, torturous period of losing, not unlike the one in which the Cleveland Cavaliers are currently steeped to start the post-LeBron James era.

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