This has been quite the hot topic, particularly over the last 24 hours or so. It seems from the moment the Lakers put the finishing touches on a dismal second round performance their extensive fan base has been ready to blow up the team, and their prime target is none other than Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard.

It makes sense, if you think about it. Lakers fans have been conditioned to believe that there’s no player their team can’t buy, no price tag to large for Lakers owner Jerry Bus, and no lengths the Lakers won’t go to in order to secure the best roster in the NBA. It almost seems inevitable that the best players will gravitate to the big stage, to the purple and gold of one of professional sports’ most successful franchises.

In this case, however, they seem to be barking up the wrong tree.

Dwight Howard has been more than vocal, has gone out of his way, even, to make it clear that he has no desire to leave Orlando. He’s not looking to force a trade, he’s not open to speculation about 2012 free agency, and he’s not amused by the mindless speculation that now threatens to overshadow one of the most exciting NBA postseasons we’ve seen in years. And his own local paper is making matters even worse.

Why would the Orlando Sentinel create an app that allows readers to dress their star player up in another team’s jersey? Isn’t that like reverse tampering, or something? The Orlando Sentinel would have to fold up shop if the Magic weren’t in town for them to cover, and if Dwight leaves town he may as well take the brand new Amway Arena with him. No one will be left to by tickets. And yet the Sentinel seemingly chose to encourage Dwight to take off . . .and he was not amused.

The following are some recent Tweets by Howard, whose Twitter account can be found here:

"Y does it seem like the writers of Orlando sentinel are tryna push me out of Orlando with dumb articles. It’s annoying. Can I enjoy my summer and get ready for next season in Orlando. Pls. Same thing u guys did to Shaq. Smh"

"I hate this cuz if I go nowhere in Orlando all I hear is stay. My dog started speaking the other day. All he said was stay lol. I’m like. I ain’t or trying to"

Unlike so many high profile players who have played coy and then either left or forced a trade, Howard is being quite outspoken about his desire to stay in Orlando, even taking on media outlets like ESPN and the Sentinel who suggest he’ll be elsewhere after this summer.

It’s easy to see why fans of the Los Angeles Lakers are eager to move on, and their franchise has a history of moving on quickly and efficiently. Still, in this case, we have the media serving up tofu instead of steak, hoping the readers won’t notice. The only way you’re going to see Dwight Howard in a Lakers uniform this summer is if you visit that Orlando Sentinel website and do it yourself.

Meet Brad Wanamaker

This week HOOPSWORLD is kicking NBA Draft coverage into high gear, and in this segment you’ll meet Pittsburg Panthers senior point guard Brad Wanamaker. He talks with HOOPSWORLD about his strengths, why his perceived weakness is a misunderstanding, what he feels he has to prove, why he believes he’s a first round pick and more in this exclusive interview:

For more exclusive interviews and content from HOOPSWORLD, be sure you "like" our page on FaceBook by linking here!

Top Ten All-Time?

"I guess perception is everything. Sometimes in a big playoff series a player will get a lot more attention for one reason or another, but Dirk isn’t doing anything to us that he hasn’t done many times in the past. We all recognize what a great player he is." – Derek Fisher, Los Angeles Lakers

The preceding comment was part of a dialogue HOOPSWORLD has with the Lakers’ starting point guard and NBA veteran Derek Fisher, and it’s a telling remark about Dallas Mavericks All-Star Dirk Nowitzki. There has been a lot of talk lately about how well Dirk played during the series against the Lakers, about how he dominated Pau Gasol, and yet anyone who’s been watching the Mavericks for the last decade or so will tell you it’s not Dirk that’s changed . . .it’s the team around him.

The Nowitzki-era Mavericks are one of the best regular-season teams in the history of the NBA, compiling 11 straight 50+ win seasons and becoming a mainstay in postseason competition. It’s no coincidence that the only common factor in that remarkable run of regular season success coincides with Nowitzki’s emergence as the Mavericks’ franchise player. They missed the playoffs eight straight seasons before acquiring Dirk via a draft day trade with the Milwaukee Bucks, and after two rough years of learning the NBA game Nowitzki launched the Mavs on their current run of excellence. Consider, too, that nearly every year Nowitzki has been handed a new group of players to learn and develop chemistry with, only to have them yanked away again the following year.

That first 50-win Mavs team featured names like Loy Vaught, Mark Bryant, Shawn Bradley and Christian Laettner, who served as the supporting cast to Nowitzki and his back court duo of Steve Nash and Michael Finley. The next year guys like Nick Van Exel, Raef LaFrentz and Tim Hardaway were introduced into the mix. Then there was the Antoine Walker/Antawn Jamison era, followed by the Steve Nash debacle and the buyout of Michael Finley. Time after time the Mavericks’ roster was made and remade, yet through it all they continued to be a top team in the Western Conference because of the only consistent foundational piece: Dirk Nowitzki.

{AUTHOR_BOX}In the intervening years, Nowitzki has been the to NBA Finals, he was the MVP of a team that won 67 games, and he’s been a perennial All-Star despite his preference to stay out of the limelight. Yet now, for some reason, people seem to be sitting up and taking notice of the man who NBA veteran and now Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle says is one of the top ten to ever play the game.

"In my opinion, he’s a Top 10 player in NBA history because of the uniqueness of his game and how he’s carried this franchise on his back for over a decade," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told ESPN First Take on Monday. "He’s just right. He’s leading the team. His shot-making is great. He’s passing the ball great. He’s one of the guys that’s directing traffic for us defensively."

Carlisle is not given to unwarranted praise, and he doesn’t just like to fluff up his own players for the sake of doing it. Carlisle was once a teammate of Larry Bird’s as a member of the Boston Celtics, and he often compares Nowitzki’s drive, his passion, and his desire to be the best to that of his former teammate.

So why all of the sudden attention to Nowitzki, who averaged 25.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists in leading the Mavs to a second round sweep of the defending champs? Those numbers aren’t any big departure from his career numbers, and he averaged 22.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists against the Lakers during the regular season.

The easy answer is this: Dirk’s preference to stay away from the spotlight, to shun commercial offers and keep his private life to himself, also prevents him from being noticed on the national stage. When people outside of Dallas think of the Mavericks they’re as likely to bring up Mavs owner Mark Cuban as they are the team’s star player, no matter what Nowitzki’s stats would otherwise seem to dictate. It takes a series like the one the Mavericks just played against the Lakers, a series where millions of people who would otherwise skip the Mavericks are suddenly glued to the game, for Dirk to get noticed. All of a sudden people across the country are pointing at Dirk, noticing the defensive job he did on Pau Gasol, noticing how dominant he was on the offensive end, and wondering where he’s been all of these years.

The fact is, Nowitzki has been right there, doing what he does, for more than a decade. He’s been one of the most clutch players in the game, one of the hardest to defend, and one of the most committed players in the league since the beginning of his third year in the NBA. It’s just too bad that the Mavericks have struggled to put the right mix of players around him to help him get the ring he so highly covets. People talk about the Mavericks being soft, and it’s a label they have diligently earned, but that’s never been a reflection of Dirk Nowitzki. He’s been a Top Ten player in the NBA for years, maybe even Top Five, and there’s no doubt that he’s headed for the Hall Of Fame.

He may even be, as Coach Carlisle said, Top Ten All-Time.

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NBA Chats: There will be three NBA Chats today starting with Luke Byrnes who will host his weekly Hoops Chat at 1pm EST. Luke covers the Western Conference and College Basketball for HOOPSWORLD, so get your questions in early. Senior NBA Writer Eric Pincus will hold his weekly NBA chat today at 4pm. Eric covers the NBA as a whole, but is based in LA with the Lakers and Clippers. Stephen Litel is based in Minnesota will hold his weekly NBA Chat at 8pm EST. You can always find the next chat here: Upcoming NBA Chats.