Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey belongs to the board of directors of Major League Gaming, and under most circumstances would've stopped over to the Anaheim Convention Center on Saturday night for the MLG's world championships.

Only, NBA tampering rules wouldn't have allowed it on the eve of the free-agency period starting Sunday at midnight ET, because the target of Morey's California trip – star center Dwight Howard – happened to be playing "Call of Duty" against kids at the event.

Morey had flown into Southern California on Saturday with the Rockets' traveling party to prepare to make their free-agent pitch to Howard late Sunday. Houston is competing with the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks to sign the All-Star center.

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