DALLAS -- Brendan Haywood all but laughed off accusations by Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy that the Dallas Mavericks' center punched Magic center Dwight Howard during last Friday's Mavs-Magic game.
"I watched it on NBA-TV (Saturday) night,'' Haywood said after today's practice. "(The Mavs' coaches) said they looked over it and couldn't find it.
"I guess Stan has that magical hand cam that he was taping from the bench and he's got something that nobody else has.''
Haywood said he was taken aback by what Van Gundy claims he did against Howard, who is generally regarded as the NBA's most physical player.
"I think Dwight caught me with more shots than I caught him,'' Haywood said. "He's the most physical player in the league.
"Stan made his comment. I haven't got a call from anybody, so I guess no one's listening.''
Haywood said whatever physical play happened Friday was just in the normal course of an NBA game. He added that he doesn't have a beef with Howard, who had 19 points and 15 rebounds in 44 minutes against the Mavs.
"Dwight doesn't have a problem with me,'' Haywood said. "I don't have a problem with Dwight.
"So the only person that really has a problem is Stan. He'll probably just go to sleep and have a good Sunday.''
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said he looked at the tape and also didn't see anything out of the ordinary in regards to Van Gundy's accusation.
"I'm not sure what play it was,'' Carlisle said. "We looked at some different things and just didn't see anything, other than there's some physical plays.
"But there wasn't a play where Howard flinched or anything, so I'm not sure.''
Carlisle also said he's not concerned if Haywood will be fined or suspended by the NBA.
Meanwhile, Van Gundy said he'll send a tape of the alleged incident to the NBA, who probably will rule on it either Monday or Tuesday.
Asked if he was stunned by Van Gundy's motives, Haywood said: "You can't ever be stunned with Stan. You never know what Stan will hit you with.
"Stan will come out of the woodworks with anything. He's protecting his player, as he's supposed to do. You can't say anything else about it.''
-- Dwain Price
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