Stan Van Gundy must make himself disappear from Magic

Stan Van Gundy will give you an unvarnished opinion on anything, anything except whether he’ll be coaching the Orlando Magic in two months.

Van Gundy can’t say what he has to be thinking: “Do I really need another year of this?”

In the past week, Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson didn’t join a team huddle during a blowout loss to the Knicks. After addressing that issue, Van Gundy had to chide players for allegedly partying till 3 a.m. the night before the game in New York.

Individually, those transgressions weren’t huge deals. Just consider them dollops of aggravation on top of a cake that continues to bake.

It’s the Howard drama, and Van Gundy is getting fed up. Don’t be surprised if he isn’t there for the Magic to kick around next season.

That would be a shame since Van Gundy has done nothing to warrant a pink slip. But a divorce might be the best thing for both parties.

The Magic could start fresh with a coach Howard approves of. Van Gundy could get a job that doesn’t come with a 6-foot-11 asterisk.

Howard decided to stay in Orlando at the trade deadline three weeks ago. But his commitment is only through the rest of his contract, which expires after next season.

Unless the Magic sign him to a long-term deal, Orlando is in for another year of incessant questions, arguments and distractions over everything related to Howard.

“The thing that has bugged me more than anything this year: Nobody gives a damn about the results of our game. Nobody cares,” Van Gundy said as the drama built last month. “There’s no questions about our games. Nobody cares if we play well or don’t play well. It doesn’t matter. It’s all, ‘Is Dwight going to stay?’ ”

If it got more than a little tiresome this year, what’s it going to be like next season? It’s made worse by the fact Van Gundy is an unwitting player in the drama.

There’s constant debate whether his demanding ways grate on Howard. When Van Gundy went from hothead to diplomat on the sideline this year, some speculated he’d been told to make nice for Dwight.

Howard swears Van Gundy is not an issue. But he’s the superstar, and management will do just about anything to make him happy.

When reports surfaced that Orlando was willing to fire its coach to placate its superstar, Van Gundy responded as only he would.

“If Dwight wants to fire me, fire me,” he said. “I really don’t give a damn about being fired. That doesn’t concern me in the least.”

It’s refreshing to hear a coach say what he really thinks. Van Gundy has established himself as the Andy Rooney of the NBA since arriving in Orlando five years ago.

He was the backup plan when Billy Donovan freaked out after two days and went back to the University of Florida. Van Gundy was known mainly as Pat Riley’s loyal serf, who stepped aside in Miami when Riley decided he wanted to coach again.

Van Gundy quickly made people around Orlando forget about Donovan. He can X and O with anybody, and he has a curmudgeonly charm for a 52-year-old.

If he doesn’t want to coach, Van Gundy could easily follow brother Jeff’s career path and become a TV analyst. Jeff is the one who pointed out that Howard and Nelson were sitting at the end of the bench last week instead of joining the team.

“Is it good? It’s not good,” Stan said. “They should be up in the huddle like everyone else.”

At least Howard is still around to sit out on huddles. The Magic will try to cajole him into signing a long-term contract this summer. Chances are Howard will hold off, since he’ll want to see evidence the roster will be upgraded.

Making him happy is Job No.1 for Orlando. Van Gundy knows that, but he also has to make himself happy. Re-living this year is not going to do that.

So don’t be shocked if the Magic call a timeout next year and the coach is missing. There are plenty of other teams who’d love to have Stan Van Gundy join their huddle.