FanHouse Stan Van Gundy

This is where good depth can really come in handy.

Veteran Jason Williams, the point guard on Miami's NBA Championship team of 2006, will become a starter once again with a serious contender. The Orlando Magic announced Tuesday that All-Star Jameer Nelson will undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. He is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks.

Nelson was injured in the fourth quarter of Monday night's victory over Charlotte. Williams sat out last season after retiring prematurely, then signed as a free agent for the veteran's minimum in Orlando, where he already had a home.

ORLANDO -- Magic center Dwight Howard arrived at Amway Arena for Friday night's game against the New Jersey Nets to find a handwritten note in his locker.

It was signed by the same guy who had been prodding him the past couple days, criticizing him for his lack of energy, his rebounding drop off and his sudden inability to block shots.

Howard read the note twice, then left it where he could see it again at halftime. He also saw it after the game, and he smiled.

"There is no one better or smarter in the NBA. All you need to do is play with great energy and enthusiasm,'' the note said. It was signed "Stan,'' as in Coach Van Gundy.

ORLANDO -- LeBron James can stop wearing his No. 23 if he wants -- in deference to Michael Jordan -- but asking the rest of the league to follow his lead is only showing his immaturity.

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was asked Friday morning about James' request, and he didn't hesitate to say he thinks the idea is misplaced.

"It's a nice gesture, but he (Jordan) is not Jackie Robinson. Baseball did it because it had historical significance,'' Van Gundy said. "There actually were guys before Michael who could play the game. Then you should retire numbers that (Bill) Russell, Wilt (Chamberlain), and certainly Oscar (Robertson) wore. I understand LeBron didn't grow up watching those guys, but still. ''

ORLANDO -- If Dwight Howard wants to keep that Superman moniker -- if he wants to deliver on his promise to bring an NBA title to Orlando -- he better turn his game up another notch real soon.

Playing Shaquille O'Neal -- who is well past his prime and 14 years older -- to an uninspired standstill like he did Wednesday night won't get his team anywhere close to the Finals again.

He knows it. And his coach certainly does, too. The Defensive Player of the Year and defending rebounding champion has been rather pedestrian lately.

It's hard not to like Shaquille O'Neal, the most compelling NBA player of his era and arguably the best center in history. His love of the spotlight, his often-outrageous, sometimes-egotistical, always-entertaining behavior made him a must-see attraction since he entered the league with Orlando a long, long time ago.

It's why there will be some sadness in seeing him get destroyed on his former home court Wednesday night by Dwight Howard.

ORLANDO -- After three seasons of banging his head against a wall, J.J. Redick finally has proven he belongs in the NBA.

He never thought it would take this long.

Redick may have come into the league as one of the most celebrated college basketball players in recent history, but it has taken a complete remaking of his game and his attitude to finally carve his niche.

"I've been thinking about it recently, and maybe I wasn't ready to do this last year, or my second year, and certainly not as a rookie,'' Redick said Friday night after helping the Orlando Magic hold off the Detroit Pistons 110-103. "I could not have stepped in and played well like this, but I've learned how to be a pro. And that wasn't easy.''

ORLANDO -- Coming to the defense of his All-Star center, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy didn't criticize the officials Wednesday night -- he didn't want another fine -- but he was clearly critical of the way Dwight Howard is being officiated this season.

Howard, the biggest, strongest, best center in the NBA, is being unfairly penalized, according to Van Gundy.

"He gets penalized for being so strong. We give guys an advantage in this league for being quick, but we penalize them for being strong like Dwight,'' Van Gundy said after Howard finished with 11 fouls in the last two games combined. "If you hit a perimeter guy on a drive the way they are allowed to hit Dwight all the time around the basket, it would be a flagrant foul.''

Vince Carter was about to deliver one of those "don't-you-wish-I-was-still-here" games Friday night in New Jersey, when he fell to the floor clutching his left ankle midway in the second quarter.

Carter, traded by the Nets to the Orlando Magic this summer, had 16 points in his first 15 minutes before he left with a sprained ankle. X-rays were negative and he told reporters that "hopefully,'' he could play Sunday in Toronto.

His mother, who was there, described it to the Orlando Sentinel as a "mild sprain.'' It happened on a drive to the basket when he stepped awkwardly on the foot of New Jersey guard Devin Harris.

ORLANDO -- When the Orlando Magic signed out-of-work Jason Williams this summer to a one-year, minimum wage contract, they made it sound like he was coming merely to be an insurance policy, giving them a past-his-prime, third point guard in case the bottom fell out on the other two.

He's obviously going to be more, a lot more for a real good team.

Williams, 33, is no longer the flashy, wrap-around-passing entertainer he was earlier in his career in Sacramento, but he looks refreshed and ready to play at a high level once again, adding another strong weapon to the defending Eastern Conference champs.

A year off certainly did him well.

ORLANDO -- The Orlando Magic will raise their Eastern Conference title banner Wednesday night at Amway Arena, then begin the most anticipated season in franchise history. And Rashard Lewis will be at home watching on television, riding a stationary bicycle.

Just the thought makes him cringe.

"I knew this day was coming but I'm still upset every time I think about it,'' Lewis said Tuesday after a Magic practice. "I was part of winning that banner, and I won't be there to see it go up. But you do the crime, you pay the fine.''