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The Sixth Man: It's Magic, Howard about to disappear on Orlando

Sat 25th, February 2012

Orlando, FL (Sports Network) - In covering professional sports for over two decades, I've come to understand why star athletes don't like dealing with the media.

What they don't understand is that we (the media) get that. After all, anyone would get annoyed if they were asked about every little thing that went wrong again and again.

But the general public isn't really interested in why I made a typo last Thursday. They are, however, rabidly concerned with things like Dwight Howard wanting out of Orlando.

So I really couldn't feel sorry for D-12 when he was engulfed by a horde of reporters during an All-Star media availability.

This weekend should have been a time to celebrate the Orlando Magic and Howard's influence on the franchise and the city. The Amway Center, perhaps the nicest arena in the entire country, is basically the house that Dwight Howard built.

But no one was interested in any feel good stories -- not this weekend. Not when everyone knows Howard is angling to leave.

The crush around Howard on Friday was so great at one point that Carmelo Anthony, standing just feet away, looked on and said "Whew. I'm glad it's not me anymore."

Anthony, of course, went through his own media circus last season when he made it abundantly clear that he had no interest in a long-term future in the Rocky Mountains and created his own 'Melodrama by angling to get to New York.

This time the media assembled was all about Howard and why he wants to flee a paradise where his "Q Rating" rivals Mickey Mouse in favor of Brooklyn for a franchise that has little history and has flashed little empirical evidence to support it knows how to win.

Howard fended off most of the questions about his future.

"We're not going to talk about it right now," the big man said. "The situation right now is All-Star weekend, that's the only thing that matters now. We're going to have fun and enjoy ourselves. All that other stuff comes after. For right now my focus is to have a good time and be a fine host to these great players."

Howard even referred to Orlando as "our city" about 100 times and at least acted like he would remain with the Magic past the March 15 trading deadline.

"I think we've got an opportunity just like every other team in the NBA to win a championship," the big man said when talking about his team. "We just have to stay together, stay focused and go to work for the rest of the season."

But is there any real chance the Magic can stay together?

Can Otis Smith really risk letting Howard play out his contract and get nothing in return for the superstar in the small hopes that Orlando could catch lighting in a bottle and outlast teams like Miami, Chicago and Oklahoma City?

"I think we're playing great basketball," Howard continued. "We're third in the East and we haven't hit our peak yet. That says a lot about our team and the growth of our team despite everything that has been going around. We've been able to stay focused on what we need to do."

In the end this is all about psyche and what Howard thinks he can accomplish in Orlando with this franchise and this front office.

You don't have to be a licensed psychiatrist to figure out that the All-Star thinks the Nets have a bigger upside if Deron Williams is there. And even though he has helped build the Magic into a legitimate NBA power, Howard clearly thinks he needs superstar-type help to get over the hump and win an NBA championship.

Sometimes as a reporter you to ask questions from all angles in order to get a guarded individual to really flash what he's thinking. On Friday it was an All-Star throw away query.

"Anybody that you're looking forward to playing with?" one reporter asked.

"Yeah, LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, all the guys," Howard answered.

Dr. Phil might say the big man is coveting what the King had down south and wants his own "Big Three," a scenario he doesn't see happening in O-Town.

The clock is ticking and if Howard doesn't agree to a contract extension by the first week of March, Smith's hands are tied.

So right now it's T minus 19 days for the Magic to get something in return for a guy that's already put Orlando in his rearview mirror.

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