I think it’s safe to say that the majority of NBA fans out there view Dwight Howard as the insecure, over-compensating pubescent oaf that he is. The last thing we want is D12 to have a month-long stranglehold on the media and and every NBA team with cap space.
So naturally, what we’re getting treated to is a month-long stranglehold on the media and every NBA team with cap space.
We knew this was happening. Howard is one of the NBA’s premier talents, and has every right to test the free agent market. Ah, but it won’t be that simple. This is the guy who cried during his Lakers’ debut. Who threatened legal action when the Magic wouldn’t move him. Who fell in love with a pornstar (maybe irrelevant, but that story isn’t nearly as well-known as it should be).
No, Dwight is going to make this long and painful. He is going to demand at least 4-5 ESPN stories a week, each one of them a reminder from him to you that teams want to pay him money. And say what you will about LeBron (I sure have!) but with him, you had a potential top-5 player in NBA history. Dwight, in all likelihood, is going to be an 18-11-3 (points-rebounds-blocks) guy for the rest of his career, lacking the defensive bounce that once made him a superstar. He deserves a max contract only a bit more than Joe Johnson once did.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, when the Lakers take the bait and try to build their post-Kobe identity with D12 cheesing in the middle of huddles, our cache of weapons to troll their fans with will be incredible.
Things could be worse.