I briefly touched on Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard's plan to work with Hakeem Olajuwon last weekend. John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com went more in-depth on the subject in this post, which is good news for all Magic fans:
Howard left Houston not only impressed with the 47-year-old center’s breadth of knowledge, but also his stamina and willingness to work.
``Hakeem did not care at all that I had just finished a long season. He was ready to work and it was really good for me,’’ Howard said. ``I’m just trying to stay fit and getting in that time with Hakeem was great. I’m looking forward to spending more time with him. We had a lot of time working out. (Magic GM) Otis (Smith) might need to go see Hakeem because I really think he could still give us 10 to 15 minutes a night.’’
Denton has more on the rest of Howard's itinerary:
Plans are that he’ll shoot a movie and do several promotional stops in China, visit the disadvantaged in Senegal and also sing kid’s songs, appear in a Disney TV show, make nice with one-time rival Shaquille O’Neal and shoot a commercial for Adidas while in Los Angeles.
I imagine we'll hear plenty of complaints about Howard's forays into the entertainment world, of the "get off the movie set and onto the practice court, you clown!" variety, but this season, Howard can dismiss them by simply mentioning he took the time to work with Olajuwon. I've never been one to criticize a player for having fun in the offseason, which appears to put me in the extreme minority among sports fans.