Tony Allen of the Grizzlies saw it. Chuck and Kenny from Inside the NBA saw it. Everyone watching saw it. Dwight Howard further dented whatever legacy he may be building by quitting in embarrassing fashion in a nationally-televised game against the Knicks.

Howard, in one of the worst efforts of his career, didn’t score a basket until late in the third quarter. He finished with eight points, eight rebounds, five turnovers and five fouls in a performance nobody will soon forget. The Magic were booed lustily in a 96-80 defeat.

He essentially stuck his middle finger up to Stan Van Gundy, and then raised the other middle finger to management for telling Van Gundy he wanted him fired. How the two can co-exist for the final three weeks of the regular season, plus the playoffs is beyond me.

Last month Mike D’Antoni quit as coach of the Knicks. In 2011, Jerry Sloan of the Jazz lost a power struggle to Deron Williams and resigned. Those two didn’t want to get pink-slipped. SVG is far too proud a man to do that.

So the Magic – losers of five in a row – will continue to lose. Maybe they’ll get broomed in the first round by somebody.

As for Dwight Howard … remember when he got to the finals three years ago and was on the cusp of being one of the league’s best 3-4 players? It’s been quite a tumble. He’s only 26, but he’s got serious work to do if he wants to get into that elite Jabbar/Ewing/Olajuwon/David Robinson/Shaq class of centers in the last 30 years.