Discussing the upcoming All-Star Game in Orlando, commissioner David Stern said yesterday that he doesn't expect the Dwight Howard drama to overshadow the game itself. Stern added that he was fine with players deciding where they want to play, since the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement provides plenty of incentives for a player to remain with his current team. Here are the rest of today's Howard updates:
- 85-year-old Magic owner Rich DeVos, who spoke about the Howard trade rumors before last night's game, also addressed them after Orlando's win, as Tim Povtak of FOX Sports Florida writes. DeVos hopes he can convince Howard to stay in Orlando, putting the odds at 50-50: "Dwight is in a good place now. When you’re young, sometimes you don’t always realize it."
- DeVos has indicated he'll spend whatever it takes to build around Howard if D12 decides to stay: "Everyone wants to win a championship. I want a ring for our players. But you can’t change anything until he says he’s going to stay. Then you can do a lot of things."