It’s time for our fixation with Dwight Howard to end
By Derek Franks
It’s a bird?! It’s a plane?! It’s… one run of the mill basketball player who gets a lot of not very run of the mill hype. His name is Dwight Howard, a mysteriously adored center who is an unrestricted free-agent this season and whose his current team, the Los Angeles Lakers, and at least three others— Dallas, Houston and Golden State, perhaps more— are in hot pursuit of.
But in my opinion, this pursuit is wrongly attributed to a player who neither performs at very high levels nor has the capacity to contribute even the slightest amount to team chemistry.
This isn’t “how you’ve faired during your career” this is, “what have you done for me lately?” Well, maybe it’s both. And if you’re asking Dwight Howard, the answer is slightly better than absolutely, positively nothing.
His stats? Decidedly modest- averaging 18.3 points per game for his career, 13 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game, 57 percent from the field, a laughable 57 percent from the free throw line, which all summed up isn’t bad, but it certainly doesn’t scream “elite” to me.
To be fair, Howard has had only one really somewhat dominant year: in 2010, with the Orlando Magic, he averaged 22 points per game. Everything else has been in that 17-20 range. For perspective, Carmelo Anthony led the league with 28.7 points per game this season. Howard has also never finished in the top ten in scoring. In fact, only twice has he finished in the top 20 in scoring.
We all know Howard is bad at free throws. But how bad? Consider this: Dwight Howard missed more free throws just this last season than Lakers teammate Steve Nash has in his entire 17-year career. That’s how bad.
So what gives? Why do we have this impression that Howard is a superstar?
After all, Dwight’s numbers weren’t even better than Andrew Bynum’s—the guy the Lakers gave up in order to get him— during the three years preceding their exchange.
Was it because he wore a cape and tights in a dunk contest? Is it because he was on the Wheaties box? Sure, his rather loud personality makes him an automatic magnet for attention. But this attention isn’t deserved.
On the contrary, Howard is more bad than good for the rest of his teammates. He causes rifts in locker rooms. He makes ridiculous claims, pits players against each other and players against coaches, and he defends his poor play with absurd excuses, almost always at the expense of others.
We can all agree that his brief tenure in Los Angeles is a failed experiment. Even if the Lakers can offer him the most money, which they most surely can, it would behoove both parties to part. He doesn’t jive well with Kobe Bryant, or anyone for that matter. When that happens, it’s time to accept it and move on.
That of course does not rule a return to the Lakers out. As we’ve seen with the franchise’s poor decision-making as of late, we know that they are fully capable of making that horrible mistake, much to the rest of the league’s satisfaction, too. A hodge-podge of failed experiments from coaches on down makes LA one really bad laboratory, a factory of chaos. The team will likely self-destruct again. In that regard, Howard fits in quite nicely.
While this will make the Laker haters smile on one hand, it will also bring about plenty of eye rolling and cringing when ESPN and the rest of the media exhaust all of their coverage on the never-ending drama and bedlam that never ceases to make us ill. In this sense, I want desperately for him to go somewhere else. But, of course that makes him a prospect for a team I, and any other fans, pull for. In other words, this is just an agonizing catch-22.
I will always be baffled by the draw to “D-12.” He has a superstar persona and he is pretty tall, and yes, he’s not horrible (usually). But why is he the most sought after player on the market? If I were Dallas, Houston and Golden State, I’d focus my endeavors elsewhere, to someone that can bring success to the table without all the hubbub.
While all the fuss is made about the nauseatingly mediocre Howard, consider players who deserve more praise.
Take Tim Duncan for instance. There’s a lot to admire in the 16-year veteran star in San Antonio. While Howard chases money and celebrity profiles—perhaps more so than championships—Duncan remains loyal to a team that has stayed relevant since he joined them, due a lot to his play, as well as the faithful companions he has fronted. While Howard hoots and hollars and makes headlines (and calls himself “Superman”), Duncan quietly leads the same team that drafted him and keeps them in championship contention—not that he desperately needs it; he’s already run out of room on one hand for rings as it is. I wish there were more players like this, who made it about the game and about the fans, not about their own selfish aspirations.
By the way, it may come as no surprise that Duncan, despite his age, averaged more points (17.8) and more blocks per game (2.7) than Howard did in 2013, both of which are allegedly Howard’s big selling points. And Duncan is a forward. Let’s not forget, Howard is supposed to be in the prime of his career, instead he ranks in the middle of the pack among NBA starters.
My beef with this whole thing is this: Howard has made this free-agency into a free-fire auction for himself, as if he is the almighty coveted prize that is going to lead whatever team that snags him to a championship when the numbers and the controversy indicate otherwise. He thinks he is entitled to demanding superstar money despite his super-average play. And he believes that he is the holy grail of free agents, as if every team is secretly drooling over a shot at the great and powerful Dwight.
The reality is, Howard isn’t very good. And even if he was, there is no amount of money that makes him an appealing acquisition for shear fact that he becomes a cancer to any locker room he joins. He’s the epitome of fools’ gold, that mirage in a hot desert. Behind the smoke and mirrors is just another average center with a big head and a lot of problems off the court. He’s nothing more than a never ending migraine headache for the front office and a PR nightmare whose ego is too big to handle. It comes with the package, so buyers beware.
As the carousel of free agents gets spinning, the drama is sure to excite. But honestly there are way better players to keep our eyes on. While Chris Paul had an off-year from a scoring perspective, as one of the league’s most dominant assist-man, he makes almost everyone on his team better, and he does so relatively quietly and never causes a ruckus off the court. Josh Smith of the Hawks will be a big land for anyone who gets him, as will J.R. Smith, Tyreke Evans and Al Jefferson, all of whom could help a team like Dallas or Houston more than Howard can.
Call me crazy, but I just see Howard suiting up for one of these teams, being a miserable failure and then being subjected to the disgust of that team’s fan-base for the entire year, just as he was last year. But maybe that’s just me.
Soon enough, I think it will become realized that Howard is much too overhyped, if it hasn’t been already. In time, we will all see the forest for the trees and stop with the obsession over a player that has accomplished very little to be excited about and raised a lot of cane while doing so. Until then, “Superman” will get his pay, whether he deserves it or not.
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