Archive for August, 2011

ESPN has a round table discussing the Magic: 4. Fact or Fiction: The Magic are title contenders. David Thorpe, Scouts Inc.: Fact. No team has both the best big man in the game and a top-tier coach other than Orlando. A few poor personnel decisions can keep the Magic from probably winning a ring, which means they are also just one or two good decisions away from getting back to that spot. According to Zach McCann, Patrick Ewing doesn’t think his height should hold him back: “People have always said that, ‘Oh, he only knows the center position. He can just [...]

Dwight Howard ran some point in Earl Clark’s charity game Friday night. Per Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel, besides Clark, Magic second round pick DeAndre Liggins, also played. (Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com) and is the co-host of the ESPN1080.com Insiders Show Sunday mornings at 10:00 am EST. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).

Per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo, free agent forward Earl Clark is heading to China to play for Zhejiang: Orlando Magic free agent Earl Clark(notes) has reached an agreement on a one-year contract with Zhejiang of the Chinese Basketball Association, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The deal will pay Clark in the “high six figures,” one source said. Clark, a free agent, was acquired from the Phoenix Suns in December as part of the deal that sent Clark, Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu in exchange for Marcin Gortat, Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus and Orlando’s 2011 first round draft pick. Clark, who [...]

As Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel points out, Dwight Howard wants Magic fans to cheer louder during the regular season: Howard wrote back, “that upsets me cuz I don’t wait till the playoffs to play hard. I give y’all my best everynite. Y becuz some people don’t get a chance to be at everygame. And I want them to always remember the nite they saw me play. So. I play for y’all. I feed off the fans. ESP at home. It’s a different atmosphere in the playoffs at the arena. That same atmosphere should be during the season.” If [...]

Per our friend Alex Kennedy of Hoops World, the Turkish team Anadolu Efes, is after Hedo Turkoglu: Kennedy went on to explain that Turkoglu is an absolute star in Turkey, which is why the club is pursuing him. Portland point guard Patrick Mills was also rumored to have signed a one-year deal with Anadolu Efes. Mills later dismissed those rumors, but hasn’t ruled out playing with the club. (Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com) and is the co-host of the ESPN1080.com Insiders Show Sunday mornings at 10:00 am EST. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him [...]

Stan Van Gundy says the Amway Center is “like a ghost town” during the lockout: “Every time I go into the office it sort of gets depressing because there’s nothing going on,” Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “We’re used to have some number of guys in — depends on the day — but there’s always activity. … Now it’s like a ghost town in there. That part’s depressing. Certainly when you get to October, when training camp would be going, that’s when it will be really different.” Van Gundy said his staff is still working like it normally [...]

Billy Hunter, the NBA Player’s Association’s executive director, said he expects to miss the entire 2011-12 season. “We’re $800 million apart per year,” Hunter told about 200 people during a seminar at a conference in Baltimore of the National Bar Association, an organization of predominantly African-American lawyers and judges. The union chief said NBA commissioner David Stern was being limited in negotiations by hard-line owners. “The circumstances have changed among his constituency,” said Hunter, the executive director since 1996. “In the last six or seven years, there is a new group of owners to come in who paid a premium [...]

We have a brand new look on our mobile site, which should make it easier to browse on your phone or tablet. Click the link above to download our free app. (Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com) and is the co-host of the ESPN1080.com Insiders Show Sunday mornings at 10:00 am EST. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).

Here is the official word from the Orlando Magic: ORLANDO – Orlando Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy was nervously stalking around the court, unable to stand still or contain his eagerness as he taught the fundamentals of basketball. And with each drill, his piercing voice seemed to rise in octaves and intensity. Even though Van Gundy was instructing approximately 50 high school, middle school and elementary kids on Wednesday at the Orlando Magic/Orange County South Econ Recreation Center, he seemed to be working as hard as he would have been if he were getting the Magic ready for a key [...]

Check out Stan’s handles here. (Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com) and is the co-host of the ESPN1080.com Insiders Show Sunday mornings at 10:00 am EST. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).