Dwight Howard, Stan Van Gundy Working Together to Help Florida Public Schools


The Dwight Howard/Stan Van Gundy basketball partnership didn’t end well in Orlando — in fact, it ended horrifically for all involved. Improbably, though, the two men have agreed to work together for a worthwhile cause. Reports the Orlando Sentinel: “Van Gundy is the chairman of a political group in Seminole County called Citizens for Preservation of Property Values. The goal of the group is to increase property taxes in Seminole County to help preserve the area’s traditionally strong public school system — a system that has been decimated by $73 million in budget cuts over the past five years. In the Nov. 6 general election, Seminole voters will decide whether to approve a 1-mill increase in property taxes for four years beginning a year from now. The increase would bring in as much as $25 million annually to the school district. Van Gundy says Dwight, who was recently traded to the Lakers, is going to lend some financial backing to the cause. ‘Dwight has pledged his support,’ Van Gundy said. ‘He’s a resident of Seminole County, and he’s keeping his house here. I think his history will show that he’s had great concern for kids in the Central Florida community. With him still living here, we asked him to help and he didn’t hesitate.’ Surprisingly to some, both Stan and Dwight say they are on good terms and have been communicating regularly over the last several weeks. Van Gundy even texted Howard and wished him good luck after he was traded to L.A. ‘We are on good terms and always were,’ Van Gundy says. ‘Whatever our disagreements happened to be, they were on the professional level — they were about basketball and our jobs. Personally, we never had a problem. We liked each other. I have great admiration for the things Dwight did in the community and for the way he involved himself with kids. I really do want the best for him, and I think that’s mutual.'”