On his website, Dwight Howard talks about his relationship with Stan Van Gundy: “A lot was made the last couple of days about the talk me and Coach Van Gundy had. He came to me and asked why I thought we were struggling with our energy and lacking some enthusiasm. I tried to keep it real and be as honest as I could. I just told him it was tough dealing with the expectations and all the injuries that we’ve had with him being so negative to us all the time.”

“He asked me what my opinion was and it wasn’t like I went in there complaining to him. I know that coach wants the nothing but the best for us, but he does kind of bash us at times and it hurts the team, I think.”

“Me and coach have always had a great relationship. No matter if we were fighting with one another we could always come back and talk to one another. That’s what it’s supposed to be like. We’ve grown over the years and it’s only continued to get better. Like I told Stan the first time he got here: I’ll always be his soldier and whatever he needs me to do or wants me to do I’ll do it.”