Did Dwight Howard Get Caught Using Stickum Spray During A Game?

It’s the kind of thing that, if you didn’t know who was involved, you’d probably guess Dwight Howard. There was a Stickum spray controversy during the Rockets – Hawks game in Atlanta Saturday night, but no one was penalized — just warned. With just over three minutes to go in the first quarter, the Rockets’ Michael Beasley fouled Paul Millsap on a jumper. During the first free throw, Dwight was conspicuously missing on the block, as he retreated to the scorers table out of the view of the camera. When he returned, Howard asked the referee for the the ball before handing it right back. When the ref then tossed it to Millsap to take his second free throw, the Hawks All-Star took one dribble and made this face:

https://i.giphy.com/3o7WTO7Xvc0RrRWHZK.gif

Yeah, that was all Dwight.

As Howard was about to check back into the game, he sprayed his hands at the scorer’s table with a can covered in white tape – apparently to hide its contents. He entered the game as Paul Millsap was at the free-throw line and grabbed the ball after a made attempt. When Millsap got the ball back it clearly had a foreign substance on it.

Eventually, referee Monty McCutchen warned both benches, “Stickum is illegal in the NBA,” and a member of the Rockets’ staff grabbed a few bottles from the scorers table, one of which is a commonly used court grip for player’s sneakers.

According to Vivlamore, after Rockets coach J.B. Bickerstaff moved in front of the can of Stickum, McCutchen “noted he knew what Bickerstaff was hiding.”

There was no penalty for either team, but the play is under review by the NBA.

Howard, for his part, admitted after the game he used the sticky substance and alluded to previous instances where he applied Stickum to his hands.

(Atlanta Journal-Constitution)