No one understands the situation in which Dwight Howard finds himself better than Carmelo Anthony.
After Anthony spent several months last season at the center of the NBA’s rumor mill while the Knicks and Nets fought to acquire him from the Nuggets, he reached out to Howard recently to try to help the Magic star navigate through what is sure to be a wild two months leading up to the March 15 trade deadline.
“We talked,” Howard said after Orlando beat the Knicks, 102-93, in yesterday’s Martin Luther King Day matinee at the Garden. “It actually was great to hear from him.
“All he said to me was, ‘Just do what’s best for you. Whatever you decide, people are gonna dislike you, but you have to live for you.’ It was good advice, and I just told him I want to do whatever I can to win.”
In publicly announcing his plans not to return to Orlando, and saying he’s willing to sign with the Nets, Lakers or Mavericks when he can opt out of his contract this summer, the league’s most dominant inside presence made it clear that he doesn’t think he can win a championship with the Magic.
But, at least so far this season, his teammates are doing their best to convince him otherwise. Despite the fact Howard finished the game with a pedestrian (at least for him) stat line of eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots, the Magic won behind a strong showing from the star center’s supporting cast.
The Magic (9-3) sit atop the Southeast Division, but Howard was in no rush to say whether the hot start has changed his mind about the franchise’s long-term potential to compete for a title.
“We don’t even discuss any trade talks or whatever,” Howard said. “Our job is to continue to get better, and so far, we’ve been doing a good job of just coming in, getting our work in every day, and playing good on the court. We’ve just got to keep that up, and stick together.”