Dwight Howard: On Shaq, LeBron and Josh Smith

We turn to the AJC who spoke with Dwight Howard: “Dwight Howard was back in his hometown Friday, thrilling a group of kids from the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Atlanta who had no idea the Orlando Magic star and Atlanta native was coming for lunch. But before he took questions, he had one request. ‘Please, no questions about the Miami Heat,’ he said. ‘I was just over in China for two weeks and that’s all I heard: What do you think about LeBron?’”

He did answer the following questions, though:

“On LeBron James’ signing show on ESPN: ‘I was in Atlanta at the time, watching it. The Decision. The Presidential Decision, 2010. Yeah.'”

“On fans conceding the Eastern Conference to the Heat, following the free agent signings of James and Chris Bosh and the re-signing of Dwyane Wade: ‘We don’t think about it like that. They’ve still got to play games. It looks good on paper. It looks good playing a video game. But this is real life. We’re looking forward to playing them. They’re going to be a real good team but that doesn’t mean they’re going to win a championship.'”

“On whether Shaquille O’Neal can still play: ‘He’s still a big body. He’s different than he was back in the day but he’s still big. He can be a great fit for a team to help them win. I think his presence in the locker room will be needed more than anything at this point in his career. If he would embrace whatever team he’s on, he has a lot of knowledge and he could help a team grow.'”