Stan Van Gundy offered confirmation on Tuesday that his pregame speeches with the Orlando Magic were frequently interrupted by farts from former NBA star Dwight Howard.
Van Gundy, a color commentator for the NBA on Prime, appeared on FanDuel TV’s Run It Back NBA talk show on Tuesday and offered details of his experience with Howard while a head coach with the Magic from 2007 to 2012.
Run It Back co-host Chandler Parsons, a former longtime NBA player, set up the conversation on Howard’s farts.
“I’ve got an inside source, and I need you to confirm this if it’s true or not, that said you used to get pissed at Dwight Howard during your pregame speeches, because he would just constantly fart while you were trying to get the guys going,” Parsons said. “Confirm or deny it, coach.”
“You know, I would confirm, actually,” Van Gundy responded.
“That’s disgusting and awesome,” Run It Back co-host Michelle Beadle added.
Dwight Howard used to “piss off” Stan Van Gundy because he kept farting during SVG’s pregame speeches 👀🤣
“Dwight’s by far the smartest big guy I’ve ever coached…I said, ‘I know you got it, but you’re distracting other guys.'”@MichelleDBeadle | @ChandlerParsons | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/0z2QkfAu5z
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) February 24, 2026
“Here’s the thing with Dwight, though,” Van Gundy said. “Dwight could goof around and have fun. And I remember having a talk with him once, and I said, ‘Dwight, I need you to be more serious when we’re preparing.’ And he said, ‘Stan, I’ve got it all. I know what you’re saying.’ And he did. Dwight’s by far the smartest big guy I’ve ever coached. And it was part of his greatness. And I said, ‘No, no. I know you’ve got it. But then you’re distracting these other guys who need to focus in more on what’s going on.’ And Dwight understood that, and things started to change.”
“He was just a fun, loving guy, but he never got enough credit, to me, because he was out there all the time, played through injuries,” Van Gundy explained. “Until he had the major back injury my last year in Orlando, that guy was playing 82 games every year, and you guys know that’s back in the days when teams practiced… Loved to play, loved to compete, loved to practice. Just a great player, and a great competitor. And that’s what I don’t think he got enough credit for.”
Howard was elected as a first-ballot member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025 after putting together an NBA career that featured being selected to the All-Star Game eight times, being named to the All-NBA team eight times, and winning the Defensive Player of the Year award three times. And clearly, he was in a class of his own when it came to farts during pregame speeches.