Throughout All-Star weekend, Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson will be blogging live for you at OrlandoMagic.com! When they have time off during their busy schedule, the players plan to take a few minutes and chronicle some of their experiences for you fans to enjoy. This is their way of saying thank you for your support during the first half of the 2008-09 season. Enjoy!
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Entry by Dwight Howard | Feb. 16, 2009 | 1:19 a.m. ET
Well, that's a wrap to the 2009 All-Star weekend.
It was another great All-Star experience, one that I hope continues for many years to come. I wish my Eastern Conference team would have come away with the W tonight, and that I could have come away with my second consecutive slam dunk title, but overall it was just a great weekend of events and Phoenix did an outstanding job as playing host.
The best part was just seeing some of my good friends from the other teams, like Chris Bosh and the big cactus, Shaq (did you see the man dance?!), and just hanging out.
Our Orlando crew is headed to the airport to hop on a flight back home where we're expected to get back around 6 a.m. Monday morning. I'm looking forward to another All-Star weekend next year (I hope) in Dallas, but more importantly looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow at practice with my Orlando teammates to continue to try and bring a championship to Orlando and Central Florida.
Thanks to all of you out there that supported us this weekend while we were in Phoenix. We hope these blogs gave you a look into what we had going on and kept you close to us even though we were in Arizona. We'll be back in the morning, and from there it's back to work. See y'all in the second half of the season, and keep supporting us at home!
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Entry by Jameer Nelson | Feb. 15, 2009 | 5:19 p.m. ET
Hey Magic fans! Thanks for following us all weekend long here in Phoenix. It has been non-stop since we landed, as I'm sure you heard. We're about to head to the arena at 3:30 to get ready for the game tonight. Last night was a lot of fun, being there with Dwight again in the dunk contest. Nate really stole the show, but people don't realize how hard the dunks Dwight did were! I wish I could have participated in the skills challenge like I was supposed to before my injury, but that just means I'll have to earn another spot on the team next year!
Speaking of the injury, it has been tough being out here and not participating fully. And I have had about 40,000 questions about my shoulder since I've been out here. There is nothing new to report... I am going to get a few more opinions before I make my decision, but I am going to make the decision that is right for me and my future when I do decide. The Magic are being very supportive of me and not pressuring me to go either way.
With all of that said, it has been a fun weekend even though I haven't been able to do any basketball stuff. Last night we headed to the NBA Players Association party where TI performed, but I turned it in early because I was so tired from the weekend's events. I'm looking forward to the game tonight though and just being a part of it all. After the game we are headed back on the plane to Orlando to get ready for our game Tuesday at home against the Bobcats. We hope to see you all there!
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Entry by Rashard Lewis | Feb. 15, 2009 | 12:19 p.m. ET
Yesterday was a big day for us, as you all know... I was in the 3-point shootout and Dwight was in the dunk contest. The day started pretty early actually. We had to be on the bus at 9:45 to head to the jam session for practice and more media. This wasn't just any practice though... We held it in this small gym and there were a ton of fans in the stands watching and yelling the whole time. Our coach for the game, the Cavs' Mike Brown, took us through a couple plays, but guys we're mainly just goofing around and playing silly games. Dwight even tried to make a new Guiness World Record for the longest shot sitting down, but after like 20 tries, it just wasn't happening!
We had a short break in the afternoon before we had to head back to the arena. My competition was second to last, but we had to do photos and then practice for the event. I went first, which was a little nerve wracking, but I thought my first round score of 17 would hold up, which it did and I made it to the finals. Once I got there, I caught fire on the last three racks and I beat Jason Kapono's score, so I really thought I had a chance to win it. Then Cook came on at the last minute and forced it to a tiebreaker by hitting the last money ball on that last rack. Once again, I thought I had won! If he had missed that last shot, I would have been standing there with that trophy! By the last round, I was just so winded, and I missed every shot on those first two racks, so it was a disappointing finish. He deserved it, but it was hard to lose like that. I don't think people realize how much of a workout that is though.
Today is our last day here in Phoenix. It has been fun, but just so busy from the get go. We have our whole morning free before heading to the arena this afternoon. I'm looking forward to playing tonight with everyone... These guys are all so great to be around and it's really an honor for me and my teammates to be mentioned with these guys. We'll be sure to represent for you Magic fans tomorrow! Hope you all have enjoyed everthing so far, and we'll catch up again soon!
A few free minutes to check in...
Entry by Rashard Lewis | Feb. 13, 2009 | 6:19 p.m. ET
Hey everyone... It's about 3:30 out here in Phoenix. We are on a bus headed back from an NBA Cares day of service event, which all the All-Stars take part in. My event, which was refurbishing a home, had Jameer, Dirk, LBJ, Chris Paul, Paul Pierce and a few others. We helped with landscaping the front yard and painting, and the family seemed so happy that we were out there to help. We also had our players meeting this morning and then a media availability for about a half hour before we left for this. Everyone was asking us about Jameer and when he will return and about how successful we've been so far this year. We don't know about Jameer yet, but hopefully we will have an answer soon. The highlight of that for me was when LeBron came over and gave each All-Star a crystal with all of the players' names engraved on it, which was a nice gesture.
Tonight I think I am just going to relax. I'm not sure whether I will go to the game tonight or not... I would definitely go if Courtney was going to be playing, which I think he should be. He has played very well this season and I think he is definitely up there when you are talking about the best rookies in the league. Hopefully next year he can earn a spot on the sohopmore team, and I know he will keep working hard to make sure that happens.
Well, we are about to arrive back at the hotel. Thanks again for checking in with us again, and be sure to check out Dwight tonight as a coach of the sophomore team. I can only imagine what he will be like as a coach... It should be fun to watch!
I'll be roaming the sidelines tonight
Entry by Dwight Howard | Feb. 13, 2009 | 5:10 p.m. ET
We just left the Eastern All-Stars meeting and media avaialbility and now are in an SUV heading to the NBA Cares day of service.
I'm going to work on a playground for KaBoom on the outskirts of Phoenix now and can't wait to see everyone there. We do these KaBoom builds back home in Orlando every year, so I've got an idea of what to expect.
It's been an eventful day so far, but I can't wait to coach up my Sophomores to a victory tonight. Make sure you tune in to TNT and see if I can one-up Coach Van Gundy!
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Entry by Rashard Lewis | Feb. 12, 2009 | 12:07 a.m. ET
Hey everyone, thanks for checking in with us while we're out here in Phoenix. Today was a pretty low key day - we left Orlando at around 1 and got here to Phoenix at about 5:30 (3:30 local time). We hit the ground running though - as soon as we checked into the hotel, we had to do a media circuit downstairs. We had interviews with NBA TV, ESPN Radio and a bunch of other media outlets. We ran into a lot of other players along the way, like Danny Granger, Nate Robinson and Mike Bibby, and then the three of us Magic players took photos together. We are all just happy to be All-Stars together and representing the Magic here in Phoenix. We even ran into Keyon Dooling while we were taking the pictures and had him jump in as an honorary member of our team since we played with him for so long.
Tonight we are all just enjoying our free night before the real madness starts tomorrow. Jameer has an appearance tonight with EA Sports and Dwight was going to the movies and then to the arena to practice for the dunk contest. Tomorrow is the first time all the All-Stars are together - we have practice and then we're off to the NBA Cares day of service. After that, the rookie/sophomore game is tomorrow night, so it should be a full day, but we're all looking forward to it. We'll check back in tomorrow with you guys, but thanks again for supporting us while we're out here!
