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Stan Van Gundy Defends His Star By Asking Media To Get Whacked In The Head

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard picks up a lot of technical fouls – 18 this regular season, to be exact, and one so far against the Hawks in the first round of the playoffs. It’s a major concern for the Magic – Howard’s far and away the team’s best player, and losing for any length of time (as they did twice to one-game suspensions for technicals during the regular season) hurts.

But Howard also gets fouled a lot, as will happen when the other team has to try and physically stop you, only they can’t because you are an inhumanly-sculpted, 6-11, 265-pound force of nature (who also doesn’t shoot free throws very well). And when you get fouled constantly, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy implores you to recognize, it can be tough to not try and retaliate in any way:

And while we’re never fans of the “you guys in the media” lines that always come off as patronizing, at least he was measured about it, and we do imagine it would be hard to always keep in control if we got fouled as much as Howard.

Then again, if being fouled like that meant we were one of the most unstoppable physical forces in sports, we’d take it – and, we’d like to think, not expect much sympathy for being such an unstoppable force. Maybe it’s tough being Dwight Howard on the court sometimes, but it’s tougher being the person tasked with stopping him. Video of Van Gundy’s remarks below.