Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard were Magic teammates for eight seasons. (Fernando Median/NBAE via Getty Images)

Dwight Howard recently said he starred on an Orlando Magic team of nobodies “with a smile on his face,” but former teammate Jameer Nelson isn’t smiling. Nelson responded Wednesday, asking when Howard was going to be a man and take ownership of his not winning an NBA championship in Orlando.

The simmering media feud could heat up as Howard approaches his first return to Orlando when the Lakers visit the Magic on March 12. Many in Orlando are still upset after Howard forced a trade to Los Angeles during the off-season.

“My team in Orlando was a team full of people who nobody wanted,” said Howard in a video interview with CBS2/KCAL9. “I was the leader and I led that team with a smile on my face.”

Nelson joined Howard as first-round picks in the 2004 NBA Draft, and got along with the All-Star center for almost eight seasons, helping the Magic’s run to the 2009 NBA Finals where they lost to the Lakers. Their relationship began to go south when Howard publicly admitted wanting to play with the league’s top point guards such as Chris Paul.

“At some point, when are you gonna as a man, when are you going to take ownership and stay out of the media in a professional manner?” asked Nelson to the Orlando Sentinel on Wednesday.

“I would be less of a man to comment on certain things that people comment on about me and my teammates,” Nelson continued. “We had a great run as a group, as core guys, and he was a part of it and for him to say things about anybody in a negative manner, that’s up to him.”

Dwight Howard said that members of the Heat were purposefully targeting his injured shoulder in an attempt to hurt him. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Dwight Howard alleged Sunday that opposing teams are targeting his injured shoulder early in games and trying to hurt him.

The Los Angeles Lakers center Howard has a torn labrum in his right shoulder. He told Yahoo Sports’ Eric Adelson that both the Miami Heat and Charlotte Bobcats had tried to yank his shoulder near the beginning of the game to aggravate the injury.

From Adelson’s piece:

On his first trip down the court, Dwight Howard felt Miami Heat players grabbing at his injured right arm.

“They got me early,” he told Yahoo! Sports in the quiet of the Lakers locker room after Sunday’s 107-97 loss. “They would yank it back.”

Howard said the Bobcats did the same thing in Charlotte Friday night – even worse, in fact.

“It’s like a jolt,” he said. “Then it hurts the rest of the night.”

Howard has faced criticism from his own teammates — including Kobe Bryant — for how he’s handled his injury. Last week, Bryant said that the Lakers didn’t have time to wait for Howard’s injury to heal and urged him to play through the pain.

“We don’t have time for [Howard's shoulder] to heal,” Howard told ESPN. “We need some urgency. Dwight worries too much about what people think. I told him, ‘You can’t worry about that. It’s holding you back.’ He says, ‘OK, OK, OK,’ but it’s always hovering around him. He just wants people to like him. He doesn’t want to let anyone down, and that gets him away from what he should be doing.”

The back and forth comments between Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant continue. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Another day. Another opinion Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard has to comment on.

This time it comes from Howard’s own father who told the Atlanta Journal Constitution yesterday that he didn’t appreciate the way Lakers guard Kobe Bryant criticized his son. He also had some choice words for Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni.

“The problem is the coach,” Howard Sr. told the newspaper, via ESPN.com. “(D’Antoni) needs to step in and say, ‘You guys have got to be quiet. We’re trying to secure something here.’ Dwight is probably looking at the coach, thinking, ‘What are you going to do?’ I promise, if that had been (former Magic coach) Stan Van Gundy, that wouldn’t have happened. (Howard) wouldn’t have been admonished publicly. I think the coach has a lot to do with who controls Kobe’s mouth right now.”

When asked about those comments after Lakers practice on Saturday, Howard had little to say.

“I’m not going to get into it,” Howard said. “My dad is a grown man. If that’s how he feels, then we’ll leave it at that. I’m not going to get into it.”

Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant have appeared at odds during the Lakers’ struggles. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Kobe Bryant directly asked Dwight Howard if he disliked playing with him during an emotional Lakers team meeting Wednesday, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

“Guys went at each other a little bit,” said a witness to the meeting prior to Wednesday morning’s shoot-around.

Coach Mike D’Antoni began the meeting by telling the team he was tired of reading newspaper stories in which players questioned his offense. Bryant and Howard both were quoted criticizing the offense after the team’s 95-83 loss Monday in Chicago. Howard said he was unhappy taking just five shots in the game.

When D’Antoni asked players to speak up, Steve Nash, who led D’Antoni’s offense for four seasons in Phoenix, said he didn’t care which offense the team used so long as everyone was comfortable.

Bryant then acknowledged that he could be “hard to play with” before asking Howard if that bothered him. A person who witnessed the meeting said Howard’s answer was unclear, but that “He didn’t go back at Kobe.”

Later at the shoot-around, Howard told reporters he was sorry for complaining about his number of touches and took responsibility for his play.

“It starts with me,” Howard said. “I have to be more of a player out there on the court and not worry about anything, not complain. Just do what I do best.”

Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni permanently moved Pau Gasol to the bench Monday. (Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni removed forward Pau Gasol from the starting lineup on a permanent basis, the Orange County Register’s Kevin Ding reported on Monday. D’Antoni announced the move before the Lakers took on the Chicago Bulls Monday night in Chicago.

Earl Clark, a fourth-year forward out of Louisville, took Gasol’s spot in the starting lineup for the Lakers, who continue to struggle at 17-23.

D’Antoni said he made the switch because of a desire to make the starting lineup smaller and quicker. Gasol, meanwhile, will move to a more natural position of center — albeit backing up starter Dwight Howard.

“It also puts Pau in his natural position. He’s one of the best centers in the league,” D’Antoni said.

He added: “We’re better when we’re small.”D

D’Antoni said he talked to Gasol and that he “understands,” but he was resistant to the idea of being removed from the starting lineup, even after returning from a concussion. On Thursday, he came off the bench for the first time in his Lakers career.

“I’ve never come off the bench in my career,” Gasol said. “(Thursday) was my first game off the bench with the Lakers, maybe a couple other games due to injuries, but that’s it. I’ve been a starter my entire career. I’ve been a star starter my entire career, so I want to continue to be a star starter.”

D’Antoni’s move comes, incidentally, after what was perhaps Gasol’s most productive game this season on Sunday, when he started. He scored 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field in a loss against the Toronto Raptors.

Pau Gasol suffered a concussion last night, and will join Dwight Howard and Jordan Hill on the injury list. (Stephen Dunn, Getty Images)

This Los Angeles Lakers season is looking more and more like a nightmare. Just one day after a disheartening loss to the Denver Nuggets with a full strength team, the Lakers will head out on a road trip with their three best frontcourt players out due to injury, the team announced Monday afternoon.

Center Dwight Howard suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder, while power forward Pau Gasol suffered a concussion late in the 4th quarter after an inadvertent elbow to the nose by the Nuggets’ JaVale McGee. And as if losing their entire starting frontcourt wasn’t enough, primary backup Jordan Hill also suffered an injury to his right hip in the game.

CBS’ Ken Berger tweets that neither Howard nor Gasol will be with the team for their texas road trip, where they’ll play Houston and San Antonio this week. While the full results of Hill’s examination have yet to be released, the Lakers have classified both Howard and Gasol as being out “indefinitely.”

The injures mean power forward Antawn Jamison and center Robert Sacre will move to the starting lineup.

Both Dwight (torn shoulder labrum) and Pau (concussion) are listed as "out indefinitely" by the Lakers.—
KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) January 07, 2013

Dwight Howard has questioned the struggling Lakers’ team chemistry. (Harry How/Getty Images)

Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard got into a heated exchange, that included Howard being restrained, following the Lakers’ loss to the 76ers on New Year’s Day, a league source reportedly told the New York Daily News.

Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com tweeted a denial from Lakers sources Sunday night.

According to the Daily News, the catalyst for the incident was Bryant referencing and agreeing with Shaquille O’Neal’s recent criticisms of Howard playing soft.

Howard, who’s openly disagreed with Bryant in his first season with the Lakers, later complained about the team’s lack of chemistry — a comment seemingly directed at Bryant, who is averaging an NBA-high 22 shots while playing in a lineup with three potential Hall of Fame players.

“Look at the difference between our team and (the Clippers),” Howard said. “They just play together. They share the ball. Everybody’s excited when something happens.”

Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times writes that coach Mike D’Antoni, who was brought in to right the Lakers after a league-worst start under Mike Brown, appears to be oblivious to the openly angry glances and on-court gestures of his dysfunctional team.

“I understand it a little bit,” D’Antoni said of his team’s chemistry concerns before things worsened with a 112-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, “but everybody has a job to do. The only thing we can ask players is to play as hard as they can. Whether you’re happy or not doesn’t really matter if you are playing as hard as you can.

“You don’t have to love each other,” he said. “I’ve been on a lot of championship teams in Europe where there’s edges and we don’t go out to dinner every night. That is not why we’re losing. We’re losing right now because we don’t have a consistent 48 minutes of good basketball.”

Howard grabbed 26 rebounds and Bryant scored 29 points — 18 points in a fourth-quarter rally — while taking 26 shots in the loss to the Nuggets that dropped the Lakers to 15-18.

Two Lakers sources have adamantly shot down the reported Dwight/Kobe incident. One said, "it's simply not true."—
Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) January 07, 2013

Charles Barkley called it a “travesty” that Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard are All-Stars this season. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Never shy from speaking his mind, Charles Barkley went on record about his feelings towards fans voting for NBA All-Star starters.

Barkley, an 11 time All-Star, said he thinks people should not be allowed to vote for who starts in an All-Star game, pointing to the selection of Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard this season as a “travesty” committed by the fans.

Howard, a six-time All-Star, is in the midst of a sub par season, though even at less-than-full-strength he is widely regarded as one of the top centers in the Western Conference. He is averaging 17.3 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in his first season with the Lakers and hasn’t missed a game despite claiming he still hasn’t recovered 100 percent from lingering back problems. Garnett, 36, though certainly no longer “da kid,” a nickname given to him in his earlier years, is still among the better power forwards in the Eastern Conference. A 14 time All-Star, he is averaging 14.6 points and 7.0 rebounds for the Celtics, his worst stats since the 2009-10 season.

Voting ends in the middle of January but Barkley said he won’t approve of some of the players who are likely to appear at the game in Houston in February, according to comments he recently made on South Florida’s 104.3 The Ticket WMSF-FM. Hat tip to Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports for the transcription:

“I don’t think the fans should ever vote is because they just vote for their favorite players,’’ Barkley told WMSF-FM. “I’m a big Kevin Garnett fan. But there’s no way in the world he should be starting the All-Star game right now. And the same way with Dwight Howard. Those fans who have penciled those two guys in (to) start… that’s a travesty to be honest. I like Dwight Howard but he ain’t played like no All-Star this year and Kevin Garnett (the same).”

As of Dec. 27, Howard has received 616,150 votes, second-most in the Western Conference behind Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Garnett has received 328,716 votes, third in the Eastern Conference behind Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks and LeBron James of the Miami Heat, who received the most of any All-Star with over 970,000 votes.

Two significant changes to the ballots this year are the exclusion of the center position — it is now three forwards and two guards — and for the first time ever, the opportunity for fans to use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to cast a vote.

Dwight Howard admitted that he thought about retiring after last season. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard admitted to thinking about an early retirement from the NBA last season after doctors told him that a herniated disk in his back had caused severe nerve damage in his leg.

Howard said he is not 100 percent and that on some days he’s “not so good” because he’s still rehabbing after nerve damage caused him to lose strength in his entire left leg. He told Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com that he probably wouldn’t have been able to compete anymore had he played through the pain toward the end of last season and if he pushed his surgery until late spring or early summer. Instead, he had surgery April 20, which kept him out for the remainder of the season for the Orlando Magic and the London Olympics for Team USA.

When asked whether he had thought about retirement, Howard said it was definitely something that was on his mind:

“I did for a couple days.”

He added that he knew he would potentially miss a few playoff games for the Magic, but said his long-term health is more important:

“If I would have waited until after the season (to have the operation), if I would have tried to continue to play, then I probably wouldn’t be able to play anymore. I had to do it right away. I didn’t want to risk my career for some playoff games. They were important for me, but my health is important.”

Now playing again, Howard has not missed any games so far with his new-look Lakers. After one of the worst starts in franchise history, Howard and the Lakers seem to have regained their stride. The team is riding a five-game winning streak, including a victory on Christmas at home against the New York Knicks, who handed the Lakers their last loss, on Dec. 13.

Howard was traded to the Lakers in August as part of a four-team deal that sent center Andrew Bynum from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. Bynum has yet to play a game with the Sixers because of his own health problems with his knees.

Dwight Howard said he “liked the direction” the Lakers are going. (Noah Graham/Getty Images)

As he prepared to take on his former team for the first time, Dwight Howard gave what was perhaps his most ringing endorsement to date of his new team.

“From one to 10? I’d give it a good 12. I love it. It’s been a lot of fun,” Howard said of his time with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Ramona Shelburne. “Just everything here, from the practices, the motivation of everybody here is championship, that’s what we need.

“I like the direction we’re headed. We’ve had some tough losses but we’ll learn and we’ll grow from it. We’re going to stick together.”

After an offseason filled with Howard trade rumors and discussion, the Orlando Magic ended up dealing him to the Lakers. The Lakers and Magic will square off Sunday night in Los Angeles.

Howard is set to become a free agent after the season. His strong sentiments about his time with the Lakers are a good sign he’ll be willing to re-sign with the team. But he said upon arrival that he would wait until after the season to negotiate a deal.

“I think the best thing to do is talk about it at the end of the year,” Howard said. “We just went through that last season, basically, and I don’t want to go through it again or see anyone have to go through it.

“This is going to be my decision, and I’m going to wait ’till the end of the year. But I’m happy to be in L.A. This is a great place. I love the coaching staff and I love the organization for everything they’ve done for me since I got traded here.

“Hopefully, I’ll have a long career here in L.A.”

New Lakers center Dwight Howard admitted he wanted a trade to the Nets in the offseason. (Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

Dwight Howard said Thursday that he did indeed prefer a trade to the Brooklyn Nets this offseason, but added that where he ended up — with the Los Angeles Lakers — is a “blessing in disguise.”

“I did want to go to Brooklyn. That’s a place where I told the Magic that I really wanted to go,” Howard told Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco on ESPN NewYork 98.7 FM. “[But] I was traded to the Lakers, and I think it was a blessing in disguise.

” … I think there’s a reason why everything happened the way it happened. So far it’s been an unbelievable experience for me. … It’s like a dream come true.”

After an offseason filled with trade rumor after trade rumor, Howard was finally dealt to the Lakers from the Orlando Magic in a four-team trade. Howard had pressed for a trade to Brooklyn and numerous reported deals were close to being finalized, but all of them fell through. The Magic also had serious discussions involving the Houston Rockets.

But Howard said Thursday he was pleased with how everything shook out.

“I thought I was going to get traded at the beginning of the year, actually, that’s when I asked for it,” he said. “But everything happened for a reason. I had to go through last year to get to where I’m at today. It’s made me a stronger and better person for it. I had to go through the hell and the stormy forecast to come out to a place like this … and I’m thankful for it.”

Lakers center Dwight Howard said his leg felt dead because of nerve damage brought on by a bad back. (Noah Graham/NBA/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard revealed on Thursday just how painful his back injury was last season, saying he couldn’t even do a leg raise or bend over.

“What a lot of people don’t know is when I hurt my back, it affected my nerves to the point where my whole left leg just went dead basically,” Howard told the Los Angeles Times. “I couldn’t do a calf raise. When I went to see the doctor right before I was traded. Most guys don’t recover as fast as you did, especially when it affects your nerve down your leg. It usually takes a year for your leg to regain strength.”

Howard had surgery in April for a herniated disk, and he says that it took him two months before he could lift his calf off the ground.

Howard will not play in the Lakers’ exhibition game Saturday against the Utah Jazz, but says he wants to play before the Lakers open their season on Oct. 30. Howard played in only 54 regular-season games last year.

New Lakers center Dwight Howard fired back at former great Shaquille O’Neal. ( Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

New Lakers center Dwight Howard responded to Lakers icon Shaquille O’Neal on Thursday, one week after O’Neal put him behind former Lakers center Andrew Bynum and Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez in his center rankings.

“I don’t care what Shaq says,” Howard told reporters after practice Wednesday, according to The Los Angeles Times.”Shaq played the game and he is done. It’s time to move on. He hated the fact when he played that older guys were talking about him and how he played. Now he’s doing the exact same thing. Just let it go. There’s no sense for him to be talking trash to me. He did his thing in the league. Sit back and relax. Your time is up.”

Howard is meshing well with his new team after a rather tumultuous offseason full of trade rumors before he finally was shipped from Orlando to Los Angeles.

But he’s not on good terms with one of the franchise’s former stars, as O’Neal last week placed him below Bynum and Lopez in his pseudo power rankings of centers.

“I’m not talking about dunking, I’m talking about playing like a big man with moves,” O’Neal, who is now an analyst on TNT, told NBA.com. “My man [Lopez], before he had the foot injury, was putting up nice, solid big-man numbers. He don’t have a lot of flash, a la Tim Duncan, but he can play. If you put him with a nice team around him, you can get a lot from this big man. Like if you want to go to flash and dunking and the pick and roll, you gotta go with Dwight Howard. But me, the last true original dun duda, I’m going with Andrew Bynum and [Lopez].”

Here’s where things could get awkward: The Lakers are set to retire O’Neal’s jersey in an April 2 ceremony. But when asked if he needed to “get on the same page” with O’Neal before then, Howard shot back with an incredulous-sounding question.

“What do we need to be on the same page for?” Howard said. “I have respect for him and what he did for basketball. That’s it. When my time is up, there’s going to be somebody else who can do everything I can do and probably do it better. Instead of me talking about him, I’ll do my job to try to help him get where I’m at. I think that’s what guys who have done it before us should do.”

Lakers center Dwight Howard had his first practice with the team on Wednesday. (Noah Graham/Getty Images)

With the regular season less than a month away, the Los Angeles Lakers wanted to see what their new additions bring to the table and what they saw in new acquired center Dwight Howard shocked them, reports ESPN.com.

Howard went through a workout with had no apparent concerns about his surgically repaired back. Howard had back surgery in April and missed the final month of the season and the Orlando Magic’s playoff series.

Howard “was dunking everything in sight,” a source said to ESPN.com. “He looks like he can play in an NBA game today.”

Howard will not play in the Lakers’ preseason opener Oct. 7, but Howard said he wants to play in an exhibition or two before the season starts on Oct. 30.

“Hopefully, I’ll be back for some preseason games,” Howard said. “I think we’re going to need it for chemistry and all that stuff. But, like I said, I’m not going to rush it. I’m going to continue to practice. We’ve had some great practices. Today was really good, so I’m happy.”

“He worked just as much as everybody else, so that was good,” Lakers forward Pau Gasol said. “I didn’t expect that to happen today.”

Kobe Bryant says he’s still top dog in L.A., but he plans to mentor Dwight Howard on his new team. (Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images)

As Kobe Bryant spoke to reporters during the Lakers’ media day on Monday, he made it clear that the addition of Dwight Howard wouldn’t change his status as team leader, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:

“I got a question earlier about whose team this is,” Bryant said. “I don’t want to get into the, ‘Well, we share …’ No, it’s my team.”

But Bryant plans to mentor Howard and pass the team after he retires:

“I want to make sure that Dwight, when I retire, this is going to be his. I want to teach him everything I possibly know so that when I step away this organization can ride on as if I never left.”

And Howard appears to be willing to learn:

“I’m willing to go through that process, learn from one of the greatest to ever play the game and I think it will be great,” Howard said. “I think learning from a guy like Kobe, I know he’s going to be tough on me but I expect that and I want him to do that. So, I’ll take all the heat that he’s going to give me because I know at the end of the day that’s going to make me a better player and a better person and it’s going to make this team better.”

Howard, 26, was traded to the Lakers in a four-team trade in August. He led the Magic with 20.6 points and 2.1 blocks per game last season. Bryant, 34, has played for the Lakers for the entirety of his 16-year career and averaged 27.9 points and 38.5 minutes per game last year, tops on the team in both categories.

Lakers center Dwight Howard is aiming to start the season after having back surgery in April. (Noah Graham/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard is working his way back from a back injury and intends to play in the Lakers season opener, reports Yahoo! Sports.

The Lakers open training camp on Tuesday and begin the regular season on Oct. 30 at home against the Dallas Mavericks.

Howard has privately indicated his back has returned to 85 percent strength, sources said. He had surgery for a herniated disc in April and still needs doctor’s clearance to engage in full training-camp activities with the Lakers.

Howard missed the final weeks of season and the playoffs for the Orlando Magic because of the surgery. Howard said he wouldn’t sign a long-term deal with the Magic and they traded him to the Lakers as part of a four-team deal last month.

Dwight Howard said he never wanted anybody to hate him. (Noah Graham/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard said he never wanted anybody to hate him, calling his last year with the Orlando Magic a “tug of war between my feelings and the fans.”

In a Sunday conversation with ESPN’s Ric Bucher, Howard said that he wanted to avoid an offseason like the one Miami Heat star LeBron James had in which the former Cleveland Cavalier alienated an entire fan base for signing with another team:

“Everybody hated him for leaving Cleveland and what he did. I never wanted anybody to hate me, you know. I wanted everybody to love me, you know, like me, for sticking around and doing what they wanted me to do. And making everybody else happy. And that was a valuable lesson for me, you know.

Howard also admitted that the Brooklyn Nets were the team that he wanted to play for, and that part of the reason he initially didn’t want to go to the Lakers was that he was afraid people would hold him to the same standards as former Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal.

Then, Howard said he realized that he can’t make everyone happy and decided that the Lakers were the best fit.

He said that one of the first people he spoke to after the trade to Los Angeles was his former Magic coach, Stan Van Gundy. Howard said he had no say in the coach’s firing and talked to him after the trade to thank him for helping him get to the level that he’s at today.

Howard is still recovering from spinal surgery in April and is expected to miss the Lakers’ first preseason game Oct. 7. He said he doesn’t want to return if he’s 85-percent healthy and will instead wait until he is 100-percent.

The Lakers may not be able to take the wraps off Howard until the end of the preseason. ( Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Lakers announced on Thursday that newly acquired center Dwight Howard, who had spinal surgery on April 20, will not be ready for the start of practice on Oct. 2 or their first exhibition game on Oct. 7, according to Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register.

That said, the team also said that Howard has not suffered any setbacks in his rehabilition, which involves core stabilization, upper and lower body strengthening, light running and shooting.

Howard was expected to be out for six to seven months following surgery, so he’s right on track. The six-month mark is Oct. 20.

The Lakers open the season on Oct. 30.

Shaquille O’Neal says Dwight Howard needs three NBA titles to get people’s respect. (Brett Deering/Getty Images)

Future NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal took the opportunity out of his busy schedule (owning 55 Five Guys restaurants and 40 24-hour fitness centers) to speak to the New Orleans Times-Picayune to discuss rumors about the Mexican League and his thoughts on Dwight Howard joining the Los Angeles Lakers.

The TNT analyst said that rumors about him joining the Mexican League are total fabrication, when the media could have just called him to confirm the news.

“No truth to that. It’s kind of unfortunate that so-called experts have to get their sources from the Internet,” O’Neal said. “It’s backwards. Especially like when people from ESPN know me and they can call me and ask me, but somebody else said it so they want to be the first to report it even though it’s not true. However, we could talk, but nobody has contacted me.”

When asked if he had a reaction to Howard’s trade to the Lakers, O’Neal said,

“I don’t have a reaction. You have to care to have a reaction. I’ve got businesses to run. I always tell people that in order to step in my shoes you have big shoes to fill. For him, he’s going to have to at least win three to get people’s respect.”

Dwight Howard was traded last month from the Magic to the Lakers. (Kevin Reece/Icon SMI)

New Los Angeles Lakers acquisition Dwight Howard posted an open letter Sunday in the Orlando Sentinel.

In the letter, Howard said ‘to have had the opportunity to play before the Orlando fans for eight years was truly a privilege and an honor’.

Sentinel blogger George Diaz said the letter was ‘a joke for Magic fans’.

Howard, a six-time All-Star center who played eight seasons in Orlando, was traded August 10 from the Magic to the Lakers.

Dwight Howard professed ‘love’ for Orlando and Magic. (Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

Dwight Howard’s “love letter” to the City of Orlando and Magic fans may do even more damage to his already tainted image in Florida.

Howard paid for a full-age ad that appeared in today’s Orlando Sentinel newspaper.

The ad reads:

“To play the game of basketball in the NBA is a blessing and to have had the opportunity to play before the Orlando fans for eight years was truly a privilege and an honor.

“Words cannot express the love that I have for Orlando. With your support we have done great things in this city from hanging banners to impacting our youth.

“Although my career with the Magic has come to a close, my love for the city and the people that make it beautiful will never end.”

Howard’s profession of love for Orlando comes less than a month after the All-Star center’s persistent trade requests became the catalyst for a four-team deal that sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Sentinel writer George Diaz may have captured the hurt feelings of many Magic fans by relating Howard’s questionable display of affection a comedy song written and performed by the late comedian and actor Sam Kinison, titled “Love Song.”

 He wrote a tune about getting dumped by his girlfriend, who reached out and asked if they could still be friends.

After a soft mellow introduction on the piano, (“I wrote her this song and it goes like this..”) Kinison goes into his usual ballistic rampage:

“You used me! You never loved me! I hope you slide under a gas truck and taste your own blood! DIE! DIE! DIE! I want my records back! I want my [bleeping] records back!”

That’s how Magic fans feel about Howard, hopefully without the gas truck dying thing.

Sorry Dwight.

It is now an unrequited love.

Kevin Durant says the Lakers have the best team “on paper” heading into next season after adding Dwight Howard. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Kevin Durant echoed Chris Bosh on Sunday, suggesting that the Los Angeles Lakers are the NBA’s best team and favorites to win next year’s championship “on paper” after the offseason additions of point guard Steve Nash and center Dwight Howard.

“People outside, fans, media, of course they are going to say [the Lakers are the favorites] because on paper they have the best lineup in the league,” Durant told Yahoo Sports’ Marc J. Spears in an interview published Sunday. But you still got to play the games. We respect everybody. We are going to go through the league respecting everybody as well.

That means stars from both of the NBA’s matched-up teams in the title last season — the Miami Heat’s Bosh and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Durant — have suggested that the Lakers are the “on-paper” favorites heading into next season. Then again, both also suggested that the only thing that matters is who ends up on top next June.

“It was a great move for [the Lakers],” Durant said. “[Howard] is the most dominant center in the league. It’s going to make it tough on other teams. But I like that challenge. We all like that challenge in OKC. It should be fun.

The Thunder, of course, knocked off the Lakers in the second round of last season’s Western Conference playoffs. But that was before the Lakers added both Nash and Howard this offseason — the latter of which came in a blockbuster, four-team trade.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said Andrew Bynum wasn’t always focused. (Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar thinks that newly acquired center Dwight Howard will be more committed to playing hard than former center Andrew Bynum was, he said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times‘ Mark Medina.

Bynum went to Philadelphia in the four-team trade that landed Howard in Los Angeles. Abdul-Jabbar worked with Bynum for several years, and he offered some mild criticism of the center’s work ethic and some skepticism of whether he will excel as a leading man for the 76ers.

“Dwight is very committed to playing and winning,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “Andrew has been up and down on that issue. There are times he wants to play, do a great job and he goes out and does it. Then there are other times where it seems like he’s not focused.

…”When I first started working with him, he was eager to learn. He appreciated me shortening the learning curve. Once he figured he did everything he wanted to do in terms of learning, he didn’t want me to bother him constantly going over the fundamentals.

…”It’s up to him to determine how much of a leader he wants to be and how to make that happen on the court (with Philadelphia). Some people like that position and adjust to it naturally. Other people aren’t comfortable with it.”

Abdul-Jabbar praised the Lakers’ offseason moves, especially the acquisitions of Howard and point guard Steve Nash.

“Just the addition of those guys makes them contenders,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “I’m not going to predict they’ll win it all. But the proof is in the pudding. They put the pieces in that place to make it happen.”

Spurned Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey — who blew up his team in hopes of trading for Dwight Howard, and whom many observers felt could put together the most attractive package for the Orlando Magic — finally broke his silence to comment on last Friday’s stunning deal that sent Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers.

During an appearance on SportsTalk 790 in Houston, Morey was asked if he thought the Rockets were close to acquiring Howard. His response, according to SportsRadioInterviews.com: “I do, yeah. I do feel like it was close, but they did their diligence and they were searching for something they thought they liked even more, and they liked this trade better than anything we could offer.”

Morey was also asked about Orlando G.M. Rob Hennigan’s comments that the offer sheets the Rockets had agreed to with Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik made talks between the teams more difficult. “I think those deals were done for a while now so that would surprise me, but really the only opinion that matters is Rob’s. If he felt like that made it difficult, then it was difficult, right? … I really think in these big trades it often comes down to how people value individual players in the deal. … In this case, Orlando really liked the players they were getting in [the Lakers] deal. That’s all that matters.”

Jeff Van Gundy doesn’t like the deal Orlando made in getting rid of Dwight Howard (David Dow, Getty Images)

As the dust settles on the Dwight Howard-to-LA deal, it seems everyone in and around the NBA has an opinion on the trade and the many months of drama that preceded it.

ESPN NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy’s opinion is more blunt than most, as expressed in Gordon Monson’s column in today’s Salt Lake Tribune.

“Depending on your vantage point, [Orlando] got totally shafted or semi-shafted,” Van Gundy said. “I feel for Magic fans. They’ve had three stars in their time. Shaquille O’Neal left for free agency [to L.A.]. [Tracy] McGrady forced his way out to Houston. Now, Howard forces his way out to the Lakers.

“If I was an Orlando Magic fan, I’d be asking: Is this worth it? Do I want to be paying the huge, enormous, extravagant ticket prices to see a below-average product for … what, five years?”

Not to be forgotten: Jeff Van Gundy’s brother Stan coached the Magic for each of those five “below-average” years, each of which ended with an appearance in the playoffs and included a trip to the NBA Finals.

Dwight Howard is known throughout the NBA as a big kid, and one of his trademarks is his impressions (e.g., Stan Van Gundy, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal).

Howard unveiled the newest addition to his repertoire on Friday during his introductory press conference as a Los Angeles Laker. Asked whether he had spoken to Lakers star Kobe Bryant, who is in London for the Olympics, Howard channeled the five-time NBA champion:

Needless to say, it was a hit with the assembled media and the masses on Twitter, who otherwise found fault with a lot of what Howard had to say (and what he did not want to address).

Kobe Bryant and his new teammate Dwight Howard are “locked and loaded” in their pursuit of an NBA title, while 76ers coach Doug Collins is excited to add center Andrew Bynum to his lineup, according to comments by Bryant and Collins in the aftermath of the Lakers’ trade for Howard.

After months of trade rumors, Howard is on his way to Los Angeles. The four-team deal will also send Bynum to Philadelphia and 76ers forward Andre Iguodala to the Nuggets. (For full details, see here.)

Bryant wrote a message to his fans on Facebook celebrating the trade.

“Well, it looks like Superman has found a home,” Bryant wrote. “I wish nothing but the best for Big Bynum. I hope he follows what was a great season last year with an even better one next year. I know LA is excited about the deal and rightfully so.

“The Lakers landed a piece that will hopefully carry the franchise long after I’m gone. I have spoken to Dwight Howard already and we are locked and loaded to bring back the title. Wow, what a summer Jimmy and Mitch have had so far. Unreal! I’m focused on our semifinal game vs Argentina, but I had to pause for a few to send you my thoughts, in case you were curious..”

Collins, who is working for NBC’s broadcast team in London, also spoke about his team’s acquisition of Bynum.

“When you think about adding Andrew Bynum, a big man who can score in the paint, rebound and block shots — something we desperately needed — and Jason Richardson adds another shooter to our lineup, so I’m very excited.

“On the flip side of that, you have to trade somebody, and Andre Iguodala had a brilliant career for the Philadelphia 76ers. I coached him for two years, he helped me win a lot of games. I’m very, very appreciative of him, and I wish him well in Denver.”

Is Dwight Howard finally headed out of Orlando?

Sources tell ESPN’s Chris Broussard that the proposed four-team trade involving the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers that would send center Dwight Howard to L.A. is “very close” to happening and could be finalized on Friday.

Broussard’s sources have the trade exactly as reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports earlier on Thursday, but there is at least one subsequent report that Lakers forward Pau Gasol will not be included. Sources told ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Ramona Shelburne that Gasol has been in and out of the talks, but that the deal could still happen on Friday.

The Magic had long been said to want to dump some of their undesirable contracts and pick up young players and/or high draft picks in exchange for Howard, and the reported deal doesn’t seem to address either goal.

UPDATE: A source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com that the deal has been completed, pending NBA approval. And Gasol indeed is not part of it.

Source close to talks tells ESPN that trade call with league office has been scheduled for Friday morning to process four-team Dwight deal—
Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) August 10, 2012

Names in deal still emerging but sources say ORL definitely getting Afflalo, Harrington, Vucevic & one future 1ST from all three other teams—
Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) August 10, 2012

Sources tell ESPN trade also calls for Sixers to get Jason Richardson with Bynum, with Iguodala to Denver & Dwight, obviously, to Lakerland—
Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) August 10, 2012

Other names likely to emerge. Example: Just heard Harkless to Orlando. But deal that's being submitted for league approval indeed Pau-less—
Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) August 10, 2012

ESPN source says Dwight definitely NOT doing extension with Lakers. Will test drive Lakerland for season and go to free agency in July 2013—
Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) August 10, 2012

If L.A. does not work out for Dwight, says source briefed on his thinking, he knows "Dallas will be there for him." Mavs will have cap space—
Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) August 10, 2012

Dwight Howard may go to the Lakers in four-team deal. (Ron Tureene/NBA via Getty Images)

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports is reporting the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers are crafting a four-team deal – including the Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers – that would send center Dwight Howard to the Lakers.

Wojnaraowski reports league sources consider the deal “serious” if not yet “imminent.”

There are multiple moving parts in the fluid talks, but the framework of a possible deal includes Howard and Denver forward Al Harrington going to the Lakers, Philadelphia guard Andre Iguodala going to the Nuggets, Los Angeles center Andrew Bynum moving to the 76ers, and Los Angeles forward Pau Gasol and Denver guard Arron Affalo going to the Magic, sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Dwight Howard will not attend his own youth basketball camp this year. (Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)

Dwight Howard will not attend his annual youth basketball camp in Orlando, reports the Orlando Sentinel‘s Mike Bianchi.

The Magic center, who has been the subject of trade rumors throughout the offseason, typically attends the camp that bears his name. But this year, in what will likely be an unpopular move, he will skip the event. Andrew Nicholson, Orlando’s first-round pick in the NBA Draft, will replace Howard.

Camp members pay a $199 fee to attend. While they will still receive the same level of instruction from the coaches at the camp, the chance to meet Howard, Orlando’s best-known player, was likely one of the motivating factors for many to attend.

Howard, who will reportedly stay in Los Angeles to continue rehabbing his injured back, will almost certainly receive criticism for the decision. He has been criticized for the way he has handled his trade demands, and this decision could further hurt his popularity.

The latest Dwight Howard rumor is that the Orlando Magic will try to trade him in the next week now that they’ve found a coach in Jacque Vaughn. (Fernando Medina/Getty Images)

After a week of pause while the Orlando Magic settled on San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Jacque Vaughn as their next head coach, the Dwight Howard trade rumors seem to be back in full swing.

The latest news is that the team will try to trade their franchise center in the next week, according to a report on Sunday from Sam Amico of Fox Sports, citing multiple league sources:

[M]ultiple league sources predict  the Orlando Magic will again step up efforts to find their All-Star center a new team. Several of those sources told FOX Sports Ohio on Saturday they believe Howard could be traded by the end of next week.

Howard had reportedly reiterated to Magic general manager Rob Hennigan his desire to leave Orlando, but as talks cooled down for the past week, many speculated the team might hold on to Howard for the start of the season, perhaps beyond the league’s February trade deadline.

If that were the case and Howard remained with the Magic beyond February, he could end up signing with the Dallas Mavericks in the next offseason, a team he said he would like to play for if he doesn’t sign with the Los Angeles Lakers or Brooklyn Nets.

The Lakers have long been courting Howard but Andrew Bynum’s reluctance to sign long-term with another team has proven to be a snag in executing a trade for Howard.

Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.com was first to report that a meeting between center Dwight Howard and Orlando Magic general manager Rob Hennigan ended with Howard reiterating that he wants to be traded.

Meeting between Dwight Howard and Rob Hennigan is over. Howard wouldn't drop his trade demand, per source. Magic's last-ditch effort failed.—
Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 26, 2012

Jarrod N. Rudolph of RealGM.com reported that the meeting took place in Los Angeles, and that Howard expected Hennigan to outline how he planned to turn the Magic into a contender. When that didn’t happen, Howard told Hennigan that he would “never sign another contract with the Magic,” sources told Rudolph.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports says that Hennigan told Howard that he is trying to trade him but has not found an acceptable deal. Wojnarowski writes that the Magic’s decision to wait so long before getting serious with trade discussions has hurt the market for Howard.

Howard wondered to Hennigan why offers on table w/ Nets and Lakers prior to Joe Johnson and Steve Nash deals were rejected, source says.—
Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 26, 2012

Wojnarowski later added this twist:

If Howard gets to free agency in '13 without having been traded to Nets or Lakers, Dallas is overwhelming favorite to sign him, sources say.—
Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 26, 2012

Might the Dwight Howard trade rumors be going on reprieve?. (Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Orlando Magic might bring the on-again, off-again Dwight Howard trade rumors to a halt — for now.

Citing multiple league sources ESPN.com’s Chris Broussard reported Monday night that the Magic are holding out for a trade that would be “great” for the franchise. The organization has shifted to this position in the past “week or so.” From Broussard’s report:

Another executive who has talked with Orlando said he thinks the Magic may start the season with Howard and wait until the February trade deadline to move him.

Each executive left the door open for posturing, noting that the Magic may be bluffing in hopes of coaxing better offers out of opposing teams. But the overriding sense is that Howard may not be moved for weeks, if not months.

Because the Magic could just be taking a hard-line public stance, the rumors probably won’t go away just yet. Just last Thursday, a three-team deal between the Lakers, Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers picked up steam as reports emerged that Howard would be willing to sign an extension with Los Angeles.

But Broussard reported Monday that both the Lakers and the Houston Rockets, the other team most in the mix for Howard right now, believe that, at the moment, “are not interested in trading” him.

If the Magic wait until the season to deal Howard, the Brooklyn Nets could also again become a potential trade partner. The Nets recently re-signed center Brook Lopez, who would be the main piece in a deal for Howard. But he cannot be traded until January 15, about a month before the trade deadline.

Prospective teams seeking assurances that they will be able to get Dwight Howard’s John Hancock on a contract extension before he hits the open market next summer might be waiting a long time, according to his agent.

Dan Fegan told Ric Bucher of ESPN.com: “Dwight’s position has remained unchanged since the end of this past season. He fully intends to explore free agency at the end of next season, regardless of what team trades for him, including Brooklyn.”

Nets general manager Billy King confirmed to Bucher that his team never insisted that Howard commit to an extension.

Earlier on Thursday, RealGM.com reported that Howard would re-sign with the Lakers if he were traded to Los Angeles.

Of course, this could all be semantics. Because Howard is limited to a three-year extension by the CBA, and he can sign a five-year deal if he reaches free agency, even if he intends to re-sign with the team that acquires him, it makes sense for him to do so via free agency rather than via extension.

Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard could be swapping coasts, with Bynum headed to Cleveland or Orlando and Howard headed to the Lakers. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Dwight Howard is reportedly ready to join the Lakers and would re-sign long-term if the Orlando Magic traded him to Los Angeles, according to a tweet from Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM.com, whose report was confirmed Thursday morning by ESPN.com:

Magic center Dwight Howard signaled that if he is traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, he would be prepared to sign a long-term extension after the 2012-13 NBA season, the basketball website RealGM.com reported Wednesday. Two sources confirmed to ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard that Howard is willing to re-sign long term with the Lakers if Orlando trades him there.

The deal that seems to be picking up steam would send Howard to the Lakers, Bynum to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Cavs’ Anderson Varejao, draft picks and “cap relief” to the Magic.

But the snag in the trade is still the uncertainty of whether a team would give up assets for the mere chance at re-signing Bynum to a long-term deal. Bynum, who becomes a free agent next summer, has reportedly been reluctant to say he’d sign a long-term deal with the Cavs, Houston Rockets or Magic, opting instead to test the free-agent market in Summer 2013, according to the report:

Although Bynum has not completely ruled out playing with the Magic, sources said, he will not sign an extension with them, and instead will wait until after the season to potentially test the free-agent market.

Sources: Dwight Howard is ready to join Lakers. If traded to Los Angeles Howard will re-sign long-term with team after 2012-13 season.—
Jarrod N Rudolph (@JRudolphSports) July 19, 2012

Sources confirm @JRudolphSports report that Dwight Howard is ready to join Lakers. If traded to LA DH will re-sign long-term with team—
Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 19, 2012