The Magic yesterday announced that they dismissed head coach Stan Van Gundy after five years, while GM Otis Smith and the club “agreed to part ways" after six years, according to Josh Robbins of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. Van Gundy’s dismissal and Smith’s departure “follow perhaps the most turbulent season in team history.” Many NBA observers believed that the “only chance” the Magic had to keep C Dwight Howard was “to let Van Gundy and Smith go.” Still, it remains "unclear whether those moves will prompt Howard to sign a long-term extension to stay with the team beyond the 2012-13 season, the final year of his contract.” Magic CEO Alex Martins said that the team “intends to replace Smith before the NBA draft on June 28" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 5/22). The AP’s Kyle Hightower noted Smith during his tenure was “the architect of Magic teams that made it to the playoffs in each of those seasons," winning the Eastern Conference in '09. But he also “made several questionable moves” (AP, 5/21). USA TODAY’s Jeff Zillgitt writes the Magic’s future “needs direction,” and for the team to makes its best effort to retain Howard, both Van Gundy and Smith “had to go, replaced by choices suitable to Howard” (USA TODAY, 5/22). ESPN.com’s Jemele Hill wrote, “Jettisoning Smith makes total sense. Since the Magic made their run to the NBA Finals in 2009, they have gotten progressively worse because of Smith's baffling moves” (ESPN.com, 5/21). ESPN's Chris Mullin said, "It seems to me that there were a lot of people trying to do other people’s jobs, too many cooks in the kitchen" (“Mike and Mike in the Morning,” ESPN Radio, 5/21).
HOW IT WENT DOWN: In Orlando, Brian Schmitz writes Van Gundy was informed of the decision by Martins in a phone call at 3:00pm ET yesterday. Van Gundy was in the Magic offices until 1:00pm and "instead of being fired face-to-face, he was let go via his cell two hours later.” Schmitz: “A freakin’ phone call. … Gutless. Shame on the DeVos family, too. He deserved more from Martins and the Magic than that after five productive seasons, even if Van Gundy did violate front-office protocol” (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 5/22). Magic Senior VP Pat Williams said Howard "was not consulted on these moves. He won’t be consulted on the next moves and we’ve had to do what we thought was the right thing for the franchise overall.” Williams added, "The bottom line on Dwight, he just has to decide what he wants to do. He knows what we want, but Dwight has to decide and we don’t want to go through another year like last year” ("The Herd," ESPN Radio, 5/22).
ALL ON DWIGHT? In Orlando, Mike Bianchi writes, “It's now up to you, Dwight Howard. Not anybody else. …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.” Martins yesterday said, "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" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 5/22). YAHOO SPORTS’ Kelly Dwyer wrote there is “no question that Howard is to blame for this mess.” Smith's “personnel misfires … certainly hamstrung the Magic on the court and in the payroll ledger.” But Howard “made sure the team was a living and quacking lame duck once he declined to sign a contract extension” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/21).
