"Humiliation hung over these Orlando Magic like an anvil, and somehow Dwight Howard still didn't understand these are the moments everyone judges him. On the bench in the fourth quarter, the Magic getting blown out and that arena Kiss Cam had stopped on Howard and J.J. Redick. Just ignore it, superstar. Just sit sullen, sit with stature, and play the part of the forlorn franchise star.

Only, Howard's eyes were on the video board, his mouth curling into a smile, a laugh, and finally he made an exaggerated lean to the right, separating himself and a teammate for the camera. No kisses here, people. No kidding.

Fitting scene, a perfect punctuation to the sudden freefall of a franchise. Laugh it up and lean out of the frame. It wouldn't matter that the Magic's bench made a furious, too-little, too-late run to bring respectability to a 74-69 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Kiss Cam had come and gone, and Howard returned to the game to miss the rim on a layup and let Elton Brand block his shot on his final trips down the floor. He couldn't dominate the 76ers, even with the only man to cover George Mikan and Dwight Howard – Tony Battie – defending him for most of the night."