Brendan Haywood denies punching Dwight Howard, Stan Van Gundy presses for action – NBA Update
Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy is livid at Dallas Mavericks centre Brendan Haywood. Van Gundy has accused Haywood of punching Magic super star Dwight Howard in the back during the two side’s recent encounter.
Howard reported soreness in his back the day after the game and then missed Magic’s next match. Van Gundy has said that Haywood punched Howard twice during one possession.
Footage of said incident has not been produced as of yet and the NBA has indicated that they won’t be taking any disciplinary action against the Mavericks big man. NBA’s stance has further infuriated the Magic coach, who is now considering compiling the
video footage and sending it to the league office with a complaint.
"It's really ridiculous and I want to get it on film and send it in (to the league office)," Van Gundy said following Saturday's practice, according to OrlandoMagic.com. "Haywood just punched him literally with a closed fist right in the back. So (Howard)
got through the game because he was loose, but then it really tightened up.”
Brendan Haywood however has denied the incident altogether. The centre has said in his defence that it is actually Howard who is a physical player, the most physical in the NBA, and in the heat of the game some nudges might have been exchanged.
In fact, Haywood suggested that he was at the end of some rough treatment from Howard during said game, but he understood that people do some stuff in the heat of the game but no one really means to hurt a fellow player.
He said as there had been no footage produced of the alleged incident, there was no need for this matter to be dragged on. Haywood said the Magic coach should back down, because Dwight and himself didn’t have many differences, and it was only Van Gundy pursuing
the matter.
"I guess he's got something no one else has," Haywood said. "Like I said, it's a physical game and sometimes guys get testy with elbows thrown, forearms, but no one throws any punches out there.”
It is up for debate what really happened, but if Stan Van Gundy does produce some video of the alleged punches, then Haywood would have a case to answer to the NBA, and a fine or ban could follow.
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