How’s ya’ll’s summer going? Mine has been crazy traveling all over the world. I just got back last week from going to India for the NBA and China to shoot a new movie with my man, Carmelo Anthony. I know there has been a lot of talk about Melo getting traded this summer, but trust me ya’ll, we were just shooting a movie together and didn’t even talk ball that much.

The movie is called, “Amazing” and will be out next summer, so I hope you guys can check it out!!!

Now, onto the MAJOR announcement that I’m hoping you guys out there can really get behind and support because it is a cause that is VERY important to me.

We are putting on “Concert For A Cause … Remembering Haiti” on Sept. 15 at House of Blues Orlando to raise money for the many organizations who are assisting in the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.

The concert will feature yours truly and also Tichina Arnold from “Everybody Hates Chris.” The featured performances will come from DJ Chino, K. Michelle, Rupee and several other talented artists. I’m planning on several of my Orlando Magic teammates being there as well, so you guys can come out and get your autographs from those guys at the event.

The doors will open at 7 and the show lifts off at 8 p.m. Tickets are now on sale at Ticketmaster and you can find out more about the cost, directions and etc. at http://www.houseofblues.com/tickets/eventdetail.php?eventid=65694. Thanks to Bright House Networks for sponsoring the big event!

For you guys out there wanting an even better experience at the event, you can attend a special VIP Pre-Concert dinner with ME!!! We’re keeping the party kinda small so that I can spend some QUALITY time with the guests. Only the first 40 guests will be accepted and the price is $1,000 a person (or $1,850 for a couple). Each person at the pre-party will get a four-course meal (Mmmm, ya’ll know I like to eat!!!), a D-12 autographed jersey and VIP admission to the concert. Call 925-699-9754 or e-mail my good friend, Shiyana Valentine, at svalentine@dwighthowardfund.org for tickets and more event details.

All of the proceeds from the VIP Pre-Concert Dinner and the concert will be donated to organizations working to provide educational and recreational programs for kids in Haiti who were victims in the devastating earthquake in early 2010.

I will then be heading to Haiti on Sept. 17-19 to visit with the kids in the area, talk with the local organizations assisting the families and make our donations to the relief efforts that are still going on today.

The people there in Haiti are still struggling to recover from that terrible disaster and they need our help!!! So I hope all of you can help me get behind this project and let’s raise as much money as we can for the people who still need our help. This project means the world to me and I’m going to make sure that everyone who attends the concert will have a great, great time!!! It’s going to be a super tight event, and I want to see ya’ll out there on Sept. 15!!! Check out DH Fund for more event details: http://dwighthowardfund.org/press.php?which=175.

Peace out!!!

DWIGHT

I’m good, finally recovering after what happened against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. It’s still tough for me to think about, us losing and falling short of that ‘chip that we wanted to win for all of the Magic fans.

Gotta tell you guys that I haven’t been able to watch one game in the Finals yet. I can’t really watch it at all. Every time I turn on the TV and I see a Celtic or a Laker I kind of get ticked off. Sorry, that’s just the way that I feel.

I wanted to tell you guys about what I was doing last week. I’m not just sitting around and feeling sorry for myself about losing to Boston. I decided to get back to work on my game immediately, so I went to Houston to work out with Hall of Fame center Hakeem “The Dream’’ Olajuwon. We worked three hours a day for five days last week.

Let me tell you, Hakeem is 47 years old, but that guy is still in really good shape. I started to call Otis Smith up and tell him to sign Hakeem to a contract because I really think he could give us 12 to 15 minutes a night off the bench.

He has so much knowledge about playing in the post and I’m just trying to be a sponge and soak up everything that he teaches me. Some of it is stuff that we already work on in practice every day, so it’s just a matter of me working on it more and more.

But Hakeem showed me some things with footwork and shots off fakes to get free. He was always so patient in the post and it was like he had defenders on a string with his moves. So I’m just trying to pick up as much as I can from him.

Hakeem had the Dream Shake, but mine is going to be the Milk Shake. I’ve got a lot of drills and moves from Hakeem to work on all summer, and it’s just about taking them to the game now. Hopefully, I will get to work out with Hakeem again in August when I’m in Africa visiting for Basketball Without Borders. And we might get to see one another in Houston again before training camp.

So I’m doing everything that I can to stay busy this summer and keep my mind off the Finals. We had a really cool event on Sunday at Altamonte Springs for the Special Olympics. I got to bowl my guy, Big Bubba, who I met a few weeks ago when I was bowling at Altamonte Lanes. We had a lot of fun with the kids and of course I rolled a few strikes along the way. I didn’t have my personal bowling balls, but I still showed my bowling skills. And all of the kids laughed a lot and had fun.

Got a lot of trips coming up this summer. I’ll be in LA, China (twice) and Africa. Gonna do a movie in China, gonna make a kids’ album, make an appearance on Suite Life with Zack and Cody and shoot some commercials. So I will try and keep you guys posted on everything that I have going on.

Yuuuuuaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. Take care everybody!!!

DWIGHT

Boston played better and they won. Those guys played like they were trying to win a championship from the very first game. They are a veteran team and they’ve won a championship before and they looked hungry to get another ring.Even falling behind 3-0 in the series, we felt like we could win and advance back to The Finals. We played really hard in Games 4 and 5 by hustling, running and moving the ball to get back in it. If we could have pulled out Game 6, we could have won Game 7 on our home court.

Boston hit big shots on Friday while we got away from our game. Hopefully we will learn our lessons from the way that the Celtics played. We had a really good season, winning 59 games in the regular season and sweeping Charlotte and Atlanta in the first two rounds of the playoffs. But we ran into a buzz saw vs. the Celtics.

I want to thank all of the Magic fans out there for the love that they showed us this season. It used to be that we’d go into arenas on the road and we’d never see Magic jerseys on the fans. Jameer and I vowed to one another a few years back that we were going to make Magic basketball more popular. I feel like we’ve done that, but we still need that championship! We’re not bringing that ‘chip home and I’m sure fans are as disappointed right now as I am. I like to think that things happen for a reason, and I think we’ll learn from this.

It will take me most of the summer to get over this loss. I know the sun will come up tomorrow and life will be just fine. After some time, hopefully I can get my mind off us not getting back to The Finals and not winning that title. I just need some time right now.

Again, thanks for your support this season. Sorry, we couldn’t pull it off, but maybe next year. I’ll update you guys on everything that I have going on this summer and hopefully this pain from losing will fade eventually!!!

Peace out Magic fans!!!
DWIGHT

Well, the sun came up today and life went on like normal. I know we’re in a really tough spot right now going down 0-2 to the Celtics, but I’m not about doom and gloom at all here. Repeat after me: We can still do this!!! We need to get over the hump. All that matters now is getting our minds and our games right for Game 3 and not worrying about what has happened in the first two games.

Of course, we’re upset about losing a tough game like we did Tuesday. We poured everything we had into that game. We looked at the film today and saw that the game came down to doing all of the little things. In games like this it’s more about having energy, running back on defense, rebounding and scrapping for loose balls. Those are the things that win big games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Right now, Boston is making those plays, but we know we can turn it around and swing things in our favor.

We know those were two winnable games. From here on out, it’s about winning one game. You have to win a game, then you win another and you keep on winning. We’ve been in this situation before and it’s time for us to respond. There’s no need to say that we’re going down fighting because we’re not going down!!! We have to think positive because if we think negative, we are going to lose. Like I told the guys in the locker room, if anybody has doubt, we’re not going to win. But if everybody’s on the same page and believes we’re going to win, then we’re going to win it.

Really, there’s no pressure and we know what we have to do. We’re still the same team that we’ve been all season. Nobody has their head down or is complaining about Tuesday night. We’ve moved on. Why sit and worry about it and stress about what we did to lose the game??? It’s over. We have to go into Game 3 as if the series is 0-0. That’s what we did in the last series going back to Atlanta and we were able to succeed; we have to do that again.

Stick with us Magic fans. We’re going to need you guys when we bring this series back to O-town in a few days. This team has plenty of fight left and we’re not going to quit for one second! Believe me when I tell you this: We can still do this and we will!!!

DWIGHT

Well, we lost a tough one on Sunday against the Celtics. Sure, we wanted to go 16-0 in the playoffs, but nobody is perfect. You’re not going to go through the playoffs these days without losing a game; These teams are tough! Losing a game happened, but now it’s all about how we bounce back from it.

Our main goal was to win every quarter and play harder than the other team. The Celtics played harder than us on Sunday and that’s how they won the game.

I know we’ll respond and am not worried one bit. We always find a way to bounce back; I’m confident that we’ll do it again. We understand what we have to do and have already talked about what we need to do to win Game 2. We have to put this game behind us, learn from it, but put it behind us.

Trust me, we knew from experience that this was going to be a really tough series. Boston played great against Cleveland and the Celtics are one of the best defensive teams in the league. They are full of vets who know all the little tricks. We had a tough time with them in the playoffs last season and they were tough every time we played them this season, so we knew this series was going to be a dogfight.

To me, this series is a lot like the Charlotte series in the first round. They have a lot of bigs and a lot of bodies to send at me with Perkins, ‘Sheed, Baby and KG. What they are going to try and do is frustrate me and get in my head. I have to stay focused and not get so frustrated.

I’ve been going up against ‘Sheed for years when he was in Detroit and now in Boston, I know what he’s trying to do out there. Perkins is really strong, but I need to avoid getting in those wrestling matches down low and just use my quickness. When I use my quickness and my moves and we swing the ball, we can get easier shots.
Last night, I was out of rhythm. I have to do a better job of getting it back. Boston plays very physical defense so I have to find ways to get the ball and not get into a wrestling match with those guys.

Magic fans, we’ll be fine. We showed great heart in the fourth quarter coming back the way we did. We might lose a game from time to time, but this Magic team will never quit. We’re going to fight to the final horn.

I think we learned some things in the fourth quarter that will enable us to be a lot better on Tuesday night. We talked as a team in the locker room and nobody was down at all. We’re an upbeat group and one loss doesn’t rattle this team.
We’ll bounce back because we always do. I have faith in my team; we’ll be ready to go. We know what kind of nasty, physical series this is going to be, and we’ll be ready for it.

Peace out and Go Magic!!!
DWIGHT