Dwight Howard Admits He Wanted Stan Van Gundy Fired Before 2012 Season

It turns out Dwight Howard did ask the Magic to fire Stan Van Gundy—just not in the last couple of weeks.

In the latest edition of the never-ending Orlando saga—which continues to rage on, despite the fact that the Magic are still fighting for playoff positioning —Howard told ESPN's Hannah Storm in a one-on-one interview that he did, once upon a time, ask the organization to fire Van Gundy.

Even though he didn't do it recently, he still did it, and he admitted it himself—after all of that whining about the press giving him a bad rap, after all that of that borderline-bullying whenever someone asked him about it during last week's shoot-around press conference.

Here is how it went down in an interview that aired on SportsCenter on Friday, according to the Orlando Sentinel's Josh Robbins: 

"

Storm: Have you said it in past seasons?

Howard: Have I said it before? Ahh ... Being upset, yea, I’ve said it, you know, but I’ve always come back and said I’ll do a better job, I’ll take more of a hit, I’ll lead better, I’ll do everything I can to get better. 

"

This, by the way, comes after top-level members of the organization claimed Van Gundy essentially made it all up when he said he'd been told by front-office members that Howard wanted him gone.

What a great way to treat the head coach of your team.

At this point, you have to wonder about Howard's motivation for even agreeing to do this interview. Was it so he could wax poetic about how unfair it is for the media to be portraying him as a villain? Because he did a pretty good job of that all by himself.

You have to wonder why he keeps allowing this story to evolve, given the fact that the Magic have dropped six of their last eight games and are now in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with the playoffs just a couple of weeks away. 

You also have to wonder if Howard legitimately understands the questions being asked.

Just moments before admitting the rumors were true, Storm asked Howard whether he was prepared for the firestorm that followed Van Gundy's infamous claim. Howard responded: 

"

To be honest, the day before I saw some stuff come out where it was said, from sources, that I demanded that Stan get out of there. And I was like, ‘That’s crazy’. I never even said anything about it. 

"

Storm then clarified by asking, "So you never asked for him to be fired?" Howard responded: 

"

No, no. So when it was said, I was just like, in shock, I was in shock. 

"

Wait … what?

How could Howard have been in shock about something he was well aware had transpired? How could he have thought it was crazy for Van Gundy to inform the media about something Howard admitted had taken place in the past?

Howard needs to stop giving interviews like this. Either that, or he needs a much better PR coach. And until the Magic start stringing together some wins, he needs to make sure this story dies instead of making sure it keeps getting fresh legs.