For now, (Dwight) Howard’s defensive mastery extends to rejecting all questions about his future as the league’s soon-to-be pre-eminent free agent. He’s relentlessly rebounding from the perception that he already has one massive size 18 shoe out of the I-4 corridor. And he’s shutting down conventional wisdom that suggests his mood swings are holding the franchise hostage until he decides whether to force his way out of Orlando in the coming weeks or commit long-term like Mickey.

“The situation right now is [that it's] All-Star Weekend,” Howard said in his 35-minute session with a sea of reporters surrounding him during Friday’s media day. “That’s the only thing that matters right now. All that stuff can go on after All-Star Weekend. But for right now, my focus is on being a great host to all the guys here. We’re not going to talk about it right now.”

What Howard fails to acknowledge is that his future is the only subject that matters. Despite his refusal to deflect attention from Sunday’s game and his desire to help showcase the small businesses around the arena that stand to gain a windfall from All-Star events, there’s no denying what’s at stake here.

via Michael Wallace of ESPN