“You all saw me as legend before I made any strides” – Dwight Howard shares heartfelt message for Stan Van Gundy after her wife’s demise

Former Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard took the time to pen a heartfelt message for his former coach, Stan Van Gundy, after his wife's death. Howard played under Van Gundy for five seasons, developing a close relationship with him.

According to sources, Kim Van Gundy, who was married to Van Gundy for 35 years, died at the age of 61.

"Stan I will always be there for you!" Howard wrote. "We’ve been through it all, and these are the times that we need each other the most 🙏🏾. My deepest condolences, thoughts, and prayers go out to you from the bottom of my heart. 😓 I want you to know that myself and everyone from our Orlando team loves you and has your back through this time!

"We shared some of the best years of our lives & made it to the top together🙌🏾 and coming back together, seeing all the family, teammates, friends, coaches, trainers just brought back so many memories. ...

"What that stood for, what they saw in me, what you saw in me; that I wasn't quite seeing in myself. You all saw me as a legend before I made any strides to become Legendary, and I am forever grateful for that. At that particular time, all I could see was my own ego, but that is why life experiences are the greatest teachers. ...

"We are all here for you Stan…We are what a team looks like! Mrs. Kim you will forever be missed, but rest easy knowing we got him from here on out."

While being coached by Van Gundy, Howard was a five-time All-Star and helped lead the Magic to an NBA Finals appearance in 2009.

You might also be interested in reading this: Why did Dwight Howard leave the NBA? Uncovering the reasons behind his exit

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Together with Dwight Howard, former Magic stars reunite to visit Van Gundy

There have been many decent NBA players who have played for the Orlando Magic over the years. Aside from Dwight Howard, other former stars visited and paid their respects to Van Gundy recently.

Players like Patrick Ewing, Marcin Gortat, Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson, Ryan Anderson, Vince Carter, Mickaël Piétrus and Quentin Richardson all went with Howard to visit Van Gundy. The eight-time All-Star posted the picture of them all together on his Instagram account.

Nelson, Howard, Lewis, Gortat and Piétrus were all part of the 2009 roster that made its way to the NBA Finals, where they lost to Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers.