The madness that was yesterday in the NBA is somehow being trumped today. SI and NBA.com have the latest: “The Orlando Magic are contemplating filing tampering charges against two unnamed NBA teams for illegal contact with its franchise center, Dwight Howard, according to a league source. The Magic believe at least one of the teams have had contact with Howard — who reportedly wants to be traded — as recently as Thursday. If the team substantiates that belief, it will immediately file charges with the league, the source said. Howard has not publicly indicated that he wants to be dealt, and privately, the communications between Howard, his agent, Dan Fegan, and the Magic have produced mixed signals. At points, Howard indicates he might want to stay with the Magic, who have become a championship contender on his watch — only the Lakers and Celtics have won more regular season and playoff games over the last four years. But at other points, he indicates dissatisfaction with the makeup of the team. Orlando has had a contract extension on the table for Howard for some time, but he has — like other star players in recent years — not signed it.”
“The root of it on the Nets side, according to two sources, is alleged meeting between Dwight and Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov on Thursday … The alleged Proky-Dwight meeting, according to source who spoke with the Magic about the situation, is believed to have happened in Miami … The root of Orlando’s potential tampering charge against Houston, source says, is alleged meeting w/ coach Kevin McHale & Dwight Howard.”
