A couple of weeks ago, the NBA trade deadline had officially passed and the endless trade rumors in Orlando were finally put to bed with the Magic keeping superstar center Dwight Howard. Even though the NBA franchise was no longer being surrounded by trade speculation about their star player, Dwight Howard was still making the news with talks of the league’s best center reportedly wanting the Magic to fire head coach Stan Van Gundy.

It has been no secret during their time together in Orlando that Van Gundy and Howard haven’t seen eye-to-eye. With that being said, there has always been tension between the two for quite some time and now it appears to have hit a boiling point with Howard still adamant about wanting Van Gundy out.

As of right now, the Magic are headed to the playoffs once again with Orlando after clinching a spot in the Eastern Conference. Currently, the Magic are sitting in the sixth seed and would face the third seeded Indiana Pacers in the first round if the playoffs started today. Even though the Magic are playoff bound, things aren’t looking good right now with just four wins in the last 10 games and Howard dealing with an ailing back injury.

There is a good chance at this point in time that Howard could be out the rest of the season with a herniated disk in his back. After getting his back checked out in Los Angeles, Howard’s season was put in doubt and now the future of the franchise might look drastically different.

With the potential of a trade still a possibility, Howard could very well be headed elsewhere in the next year or so. In the meantime, Howard will try and get healthy, and continue to force Van Gundy out of town in Orlando.

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