Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard dominated the Kings on Saturday night with 29 points and 14 rebounds. It was another golden performance in a golden career for the 22-year-old, who was the starting center on Team USA's gold-medal team from the recent Beijing Summer Olympics:

How much different as a person and as a player are you because of the Olympic experience?

I think the biggest thing I took from over there was being a role player. Playing my role the right way gave me more appreciation to the guys on my team who may not have big roles, but their role is just as important as a guy like (Orlando players) Rashard (Lewis) or Hedo (Turkoglu) or even myself. Their roles are just as important. (Their roles) may not be as big, but in order for our team to win, guys have got to be able to do that kind of stuff.

My role on that (Olympic) team may not have been as big as a LeBron (James) or Kobe (Bryant) or D-Wade's (Dwyane Wade), but my role was to rebound, block shots and be a force in the paint when I was in the game. I really appreciated my role more and also my teammates just out there playing in the Olympics.

Q: How patriotic of an experience was it to win gold for your country?

I did take pride in playing for my country, because a lot of people didn't have that opportunity to represent your country. The day when all of us walked around in the opening ceremonies, watching other countries, seeing how the Chinese people were there cheering for China and knowing that back at home we had a billion people cheering for us the same way. It felt good just being a part of that, being a part of something great, because it's probably a moment that nobody ever forgets.

Break down the Eastern Conference. How do you see it?

The East is tough. It's not just Boston and Detroit no more. Every team in the East has gotten better this year. Look at the Atlanta Hawks, who took Boston to seven games last year and they're an even tougher team and playing with more confidence this year. The Philadelphia 76ers picked up Elton Brand and are much improved from last year. You've got Washington, which has always been a consistent team night in and night out. The list goes on. Every team we're going to see in the East is a much different team. The Knicks are different. We're a little bit different. New Jersey's different. A lot of teams are different, and it's a whole different situation than it was last year.

If it's not you guys winning the East, who's winning it? Pick one.

Oh man, that's tough. There's a lot of contenders, man. That's a tough one.

The Kings are a rebuilding team just trying to make their way. When you think of their team, whose name pops in your head first?

(Kevin) Martin. He's just an unbelievable scorer. He doesn't get the recognition he should, but he's one of the best scorers I've seen. He can shoot the three, shoot the short ball. He gets buckets. He's underrated. A lot of people don't talk about him because of the position he plays and he's out in the West (Conference) where he's up against Kobe. That's tough on him, but he goes out every night and gets the job done.

Then there's young Spencer Hawes. I thought he was good when he first came in. He could shoot the ball from anywhere on the floor and you're saying, 'This dude's seven feet?' He can shoot the ball well. They've got a pretty good young team.

I watched some of the summer league games this year, and (Quincy) Douby had an excellent summer league. That young kid from Rider (Jason Thompson) – I say young but he's probably older than me. He played excellent the whole summer league.

– Sam Amick