One of Aesop’s timeless fables is “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” In it, a young boy repeatedly cries wolf for attention, with no wolf anywhere to be found. Eventually, a wolf shows up, only by this point, no one believes the young boy. At some point, someone close to soon-to-be Washington Wizard Dwight Howard needs to make sure he’s heard this story.
The 2017-18 NBA season was another banner year for Howard, as he averaged nearly 17 points and 13 rebounds on a 36-win Charlotte Hornets team that was plagued by injury woes and overall bad luck. Then for the second time in two years, Howard was dealt for pennies on the dollar, as he was sent to Brooklyn for Timofey Mozgov and a second round draft pick.
Instead of letting Howard suit up as a Net, Brooklyn negotiated a buyout, making Howard a free agent when the NBA fiscal year starts on July 6. Upon the buyout becoming official, Howard will sign with the Washington Wizards, his fourth team in the last six seasons.
With Howard likely being cognizant of his reputation of being someone that destroys locker room chemistry, he’s going to try to change his ways. Chris Miller of NBC Sports Washington reports that Howard is going to Washington with the idea of just doing his job there.
Dwight has worn out his welcome in the last four places he’s been: Houston, LA, Charlotte and Atlanta, his hometown. From what I’ve been told by a source, he wants to change the narrative on him, what people perceive of him…. I’m excited about him. I went from being “okay” to being excited about him. Because from what I heard, he’s trying to change the image of him coming into a team and wearing out his welcome
The problem with Howard’s approach is that he’s allegedly changed his ways several times during his career, then by the end of the season, all the bridges are burned in the organization and Howard finds himself bought out, let go, or traded. After the smokes clears, there always seem to be leaks from every stop reminding people of their issues with Howard.
The other part of the problem is that Howard tried to say that he changed right before training camp last season. Howard sat down with Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated and not only did we learn that Dwight loves his farm outside of Georgia, but he also says he realized why things didn’t work at the last three stops he was at. Yet at the end of the 2017-2018, the story was the same, as we learned the Hornets players hated playing with Howard as well.
Maybe this time Howard has changed for the better, we won’t know until games are played next season or more likely at the end of the season. But just judging from the history of Dwight Howard, it’s likely going to be more of the same.
