Howard: Magic front office approached me about firing Stan Van Gundy

Dwight Howard wants to set the record straight regarding his role in the Orlando Magic's dismissal of Stan Van Gundy in 2012.

While the 6-foot-11 center admits that he told Orlando's front office that Van Gundy wasn't meshing with some of the players, he revealed that the Magic were the ones who approached him about finding a new head coach.

"That previous summer, the front office asked me about Stan, and I told them I thought he was losing his voice with the team," Howard told Sports Illustrated's Lee Jenkins. "But they were the ones who said they should start looking for other coaches," Howard said.

Howard's story differs from the one Van Gundy revealed to the media in 2012, when he told reporters that his starting center was lobbying the Magic front office to have him fired.

Van Gundy was ultimately let go following the Magic's first-round exit in the 2012 postseason. Howard didn't last much longer, as he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers that summer.