The Orlando Magic Just Had a REALLY Bad Week

Dwight Howard questions why he is still
playing alongside teammates who clearly
just don't care anymore.

Friday, January 20
By beating the Los Angeles Lakers 92-80, Dwight Howard damages his own draft stock by vastly outperforming his counterpart, Andrew Bynum. Many in Orlando now question why the Magic would give up Howard in exchange for Bynum.


Monday, January 22
The Orlando Magic suffer a crushing defeat to the Boston Celtics, losing 87-56, scoring the fewest total points in franchise history. Dwight Howard scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a standard performance, while the team as a whole shot a franchise worst 24.6% in field goals and only made 16 total field goals.


Tuesday, January 24
Dwight Howard becomes the all-time Orlando Magic scoring leader by scoring a pedestrian 14 points in a bounce back 102-83 victory over the Indiana Pacers, one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference. The game was won without Howard's help, because Ryan Anderson scored 24 points, shooting 5/7 from 3-point land. The team as a whole shot 40.6% from downtown, compared to Indiana's 27.3%.


Thursday, January 26
The Orlando Magic play the Boston Celtics for the 2nd time in a week, this time on their home floor, hoping not to get embarrassed on their home court, but still feeling good from their 19 point victory over the Pacers. During the 1st half, the Magic had a 27 point lead... and they lost the game 91-83; the Celtics performed their greatest 2nd half comeback since 1995. After the game, Celtics PF Kevin Garnett referred to the game as a "bar fight," much to the amusement of the national sports media.


Friday, January 27
Hoping to bounce back from choking the game against the Celtics, the Magic traveled to face the worst team in the Western Conference, the New Orleans Hornets. Dwight Howard scored 28 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, bouncing back to his normal form after several mediocre games. It's too bad no one told his teammates to play well, because the Magic lost to the Hornets, 93-67. Howard was the only Magic player to score in double figures, with the team shooting an embarrassing 39.3% FG and 28.6% 3PT-FG.


During halftime, Dwight Howard said to his teammates, "If you don't want to play, just stay in the locker room, because it don't make sense for a team who we should beat to just demolish us. It hurts to get out there and you play your hardest and you expect everybody to play the same way, and I'm not calling anybody out by no means because we all have to get better ... but if you don't want to be out there, don't dress up. If you don't want to play, stay home. People work too hard. I want to win a championship. I work too hard every night for anybody to not want to go out there and play hard. ... None of the -- whatever, trade stuff -- none of that stuff matters. Play basketball. That's why we all get paid to do this, because we love the game and it's basketball, so why not give it your all?"




The NBA trade deadline is March 15. Dwight Howard has expressed interest in playing for the New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, or Dallas Mavericks, in that order. The Orlando Magic are currently still trying to re-sign Howard to a new contract before he becomes a free agent.