Dwight Howard was greeted warmly by an emotional group of Orlando Magic fans
during an open scrimmage earlier this month.

A similar scene will surely occur in front of a bigger crowd Monday night.

Howard will play in what could be his final home opener for the Magic when
they meet a Houston Rockets team beginning its season under new coach Kevin
McHale.

Orlando (0-1) is probably seeing the final go-around for a superstar center
for the second time following the departure of Shaquille O’Neal to the Lakers
after the 1995-96 season.

Like O’Neal, Howard led the Magic to one NBA finals appearance but has grown
unhappy with the organization’s inability to surround him with more talent.
Howard averaged a career-best 22.9 points last season and was second in the
league with 14.1 rebounds, and now enters the final season of his contract after
requesting a trade through agent Dan Fegan.

Orlando fans have made their voices heard on their desire to keep the
three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year. He was greeted by a loud ovation
from about 9,000 fans Dec. 17 during a scrimmage before Howard began his eighth
season with the franchise.

“It was emotional,” Howard said. “It was great to see their reaction. And
like I’ve told you guys from Day 1, I love this city. … When I came here,
everybody called our team the Orlando Tragic. I wanted to change it. Nobody says
tragic anymore.”

Howard struggled in Sunday’s season-opening 97-89 loss at Oklahoma City,
making 4 of 12 shots for 11 points to go with 15 boards.

NBA commissioner David Stern weighed in on the Howard situation Sunday,
saying before the game, “That’s the beauty of the soap opera. How it plays out,
we’ll wait and see.”

The Magic have a good chance of recovering against the Rockets after winning
the last four games in the series by an average of 15.5 points. Howard shot 70.7
percent and averaged 19.5 points and 15.3 rebounds in those games.

Houston is learning that rebuilding without a top-notch center isn’t easy in
the wake of Yao Ming’s retirement. The Rockets tried to acquire Lakers star Pau
Gasol before the season in a three-team trade that involved Chris Paul, but it
was rejected by the league.

Instead, Houston will count on an unheralded roster that includes Luis
Scola, Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin as well as former Orlando guard Courtney Lee
and newcomer Jonny Flynn.

Houston went 43-39 last season, missing the playoffs for the second straight
year.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys, that you never really know if they’re going
to flow or not,” Scola said. “Hopefully, some of these guys surprise us.”

The Rockets ranked third in the league in scoring last season with 105.9
points per game. McHale, who went 39-55 in two previous coaching stints with
Minnesota, is hoping he can help the team execute even better.

“These guys can make plays,” McHale said. “What we don’t do, and what we’ve
got to get way better at, is a lot of little stuff. We’ve got to cut harder,
we’ve got to set better screens. These guys make shots and plays, they can play
offensive basketball.”

While many pundits and prognosticators of the NBA lockout will point out that the players have conceded on almost every single request that the owners have tugged out of them, one issue still remains. The share of basketball-related income. Yes, the players have come down from their 57% share to what seems to be a more manageable number of 52% (and maybe even 51%) for the owners to use to make profits, the owners have made it clear that they are out for blood. The owners will try and suck the blood out of the players for every drop that they can, until they believe they have the best deal possible.

Many of the Houston Rockets’ players have largely been quiet about this matter, but Kevin Martin has let the people know that he’s had enough and he’s ready to play.

Per SI’s Sam Amick, Kevin Martin says that it’s time for players to accept the proposal and get back to work:

“If you know for sure [the owners] are not moving, then you take the best deal possible,” Martin wrote in a text message to SI.com. “We are risking losing 20 to 25 percent of missed games that we’ll never get back, all over 2 percent [of basketball-related income] over an eight- to 10-year period [of the eventual collective bargaining agreement]. And let’s be honest: 60 to 70 percent of players won’t even be in the league when the next CBA comes around.” — Houston Rockets Guard Kevin Martin

While its an interesting perspective to take, the fact that the majority of the players suffering from lost wages from the lockout, many will not even be in the league in the next 2-3 years…much less the next lockout. The players will give the perspective that they’re acting as stewards for the next generation to thrive and prosper in the new CBA, yet what good is that new CBA (which will not be as good as the current one) when players aren’t getting checks?

Its the conundrum of the players’ union….even when you win, you’ve still lost.

For more news from the NBA, check out the SB Nation NBA hub page.

The Houston Rockets have hired former Clemson star and NBA veteran Greg Buckner as player development coach.

Rockets coach Kevin McHale announced the hiring on Wednesday. It will be Buckner’s first coaching job after a 10-year NBA career that included stints at Dallas, Denver, Philadelphia, Minnesota and Memphis.

“He’s going to be coaching, a lot of player development,” McHale told The Houston Chronicle.

McHale said he expects Buckner to take a hands-on approach in helping develop the Rockets’ young players.

“He’s still young enough to run out there with them,” said McHale. “He’s got to do a lot of that, a lot of player development. He just got done playing. He was a heady player, played with a lot of heart.

“He came up the hard way, really worked his way around the league. Just a really good, blue-collar guy who understands the league.”

Buckner is the first Tiger men’s basketball player in history to start for three NCAA tournament teams and four postseason tournament teams.

He was Clemson’s leading scorer for four straight years, and became just the fifth player in ACC history to do so. He concluded his Clemson career ranked fourth in scoring with 1754 points.

Buckner was an All-ACC player in 1996-97 when he led the Tigers to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament and a number-eight final ranking by USA Today. He was also an All-ACC player as a senior in 1997-98, the last year Clemson advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

A starter in a Clemson record 122 consecutive games, Buckner was named ACC Rookie of the Year in 1994-95, the only Clemson basketball player to win that award. A second-round draft choice in the NBA after his senior year, he was a starter for the Denver Nuggets this past year, his sixth season in the NBA.

Buckner was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.