Stan Van Gundy thinks Shaq’s comments about Dwight Howard are so absurd they barely merit a response.
But he gave one anyway.
“Does that need a comment need a response?” Van Gundy, Howard’s former coach with the Orlando Magic, told SNY.tv by text. “Dwight is clearly the best center in the NBA and has been for a long time.”
O’Neal said he preferred Andrew Bynum and Brook Lopez and called out Howard during a roundtable discussion with TNT analysts that appeared on NBA.com.
“What we have now are centers that are going to the European style, which is a lot of pick-and-roll,” O’Neal said. “Dwight Howard, who’s a pick-and-roll player, some people say he’s the best center in the league. But me being an old-school center, I’m going to go with” Lopez and Bynum, he said, “because they play with their back to the basket.”
Howard, 26, responded in kind to reporters in Los Angeles.
“I don’t care what Shaq says,” Howard said. “Shaq played the game and he is done. It’s time to move on. He hated the fact when he played that older guys were talking about him and how he played. Now he’s doing the exact same thing. Just let it go. There’s no sense for him to be talking trash to me. He did his thing in the league. Sit back and relax. Your time is up.”
Van Gundy previously told SNY.tv he thinks Howard’s addition could help the Lakers win the West.
“Dwight helps them so much, and if they get [Pau] Gasol more involved on the offensive end,” he said,” I’ve been picking them to beat Oklahoma City in the West.”
IVERSON TO PLAY WITH ISRAELI TEAM
Allen Iverson reportedly will play for Maccabi Haifa in its two exhibition games against NBA teams — and perhaps longer, according to the JTA.
Iverson, 37, will suit up for the Israeli squad when it takes on the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves this month in the United States, the Israeli Sport5 site reported. Sport5 added that Maccabi Haifa officials are considering signing the perennial NBA All-Star guard to a longer contract if the experiment succeeds. Iverson was invited to play for Haifa by coach Brad Greenberg, who was a part of the Philadelphia 76ers staff when Iverson starred for the team. Left without a team for this season, Iverson had announced his retirement earlier this year. In 2011, Iverson played for the Turkish club Beshiktash. The following year he declared bankruptcy.Photo: Source
