Defending Dwight Howard (Again)
The trend of ripping Dwight Howard from afar just won’t stop. Many national pundits have ragged on Howard for his “lack of offense,” say he isn’t a hard-worker and claim he’s a “baby.”
Nothing could be further from the truth.
If you can’t tell Dwight Howard is a hard-worker by his physical appearance alone, you must be blind.
Forget that Howard has contacted legendary players like Hakeem Olajuwon in an attempt to get better.
Forget about the end of Magic practices when the media is allowed in and we watch Howard put up free throw after free throw long after every other player has left for the day.
Forget that Howard just put up a career-high 22.9 points per game and shot 59.3% from the field, which was good for second in the NBA (Nene led the league at 61.5%, but took 390 less shots).
As far as articles tearing down Howard go, Gregg Doyel’s column Monday takes the cake.
Not only does Doyel question Howard’s on the court performance, but he calls Howard’s personal life and work ethic into question.
"Dwight Howard gave it his best shot, Orlando, but the Magic failed to put premium talent around him, and now he’s justified in looking for somewhere else to play.Do me a favor. Find the errors in that first sentence."
Sure, it’ll only take a second. Howard is the league’s best defensive player, best rebounder and was the 11th leading scorer in the NBA last season. If that’s not giving it your best, what is?
Clearly, the Magic failed to put premium talent around him. They haven’t had another all-star on the team since the 2008-09 season.
I’m not sure if Howard is justified in looking for another team or not, but the team has made poor trades and signed players to bloated contracts, meaning his best shot to win a title, what most ultimately judge a player by, is probably in another city.
Yes, Howard oozes charisma – but how can someone call that an act? Howard acts the same towards the local media before and after games as he does when he’s interviewed by national pundits. He’s the same way with his teammates, fans and, well, everybody. He has fun in games and in his life – it’s no act. Unless you’re a close personal friend of Howard’s, I don’t see how you could think otherwise.
"But he also can be selfish and petulant. He can be a spoiled little brat, and all you have to do is watch him — watch him for an entire game, not just when he’s dunking and rebounding — to see it for yourself. Or you could just consider the way Howard puts himself above his team every chance he gets. He led the NBA with 18 technical fouls last season, drawing so many that he was suspended for one game, then another, late in the season. The Magic lost both those games. In the bigger picture, you could argue those two losses don’t matter, that the Magic finished four games behind the Celtics for the No. 3 seed in the East, and I’ll give you that. But at the same time, what kind of teammate — what kind of leader — gets himself suspended from two games?"
Howard’s technical fouls are obviously a problem, but when you are hacked worse than any player in the NBA on a consistent basis, how can you not grow frustrated? He’s officiated in a different way, because, much like Shaquille O’Neal, officials simply don’t know how to officiate him. Plus, because of Howard’s reputation, officials watch him very closely – he doesn’t get away with some of the talking other players do. Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan have acted the same way throughout their careers, but no one calls them poor leaders or selfish players.
"Sorry, three games. Howard also got himself suspended from a playoff game in 2009. Another meaningless game, really. Just a playoff game. Just a Game 6. On the road. Turns out, the Magic beat the 76ers without Howard. They had his back.They’ve always had his back. Or at least, they’ve always tried."
To say Howard doesn’t have his team’s back is just flat out wrong. Howard has not only consistently backed his teammates when they have been criticized, but he has worked hard to cultivate relationships with those teammates.
He also has their back on the court – Howard has played with a group of average defenders throughout his career, yet the Magic have ranked no lower than third in defensive efficiency in each of the last three seasons.
"Orlando hasn’t neglected Howard the way the Cavaliers neglected LeBron James (which is still no excuse for the cruel way he left Cleveland). In most playoff series when LeBron was there, the Cavaliers had the better player at only one position: LeBron’s. The Magic haven’t put Howard at such a disadvantage.They surrounded Howard for the 2009 NBA Finals with Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson. They surrounded him for the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals with Lewis, Nelson and Vince Carter. And they even shook up the team at midseason last year to give him some help, getting rid of Carter and some throw-in pieces for Jason Richardson and the return of Turkoglu. They even acquired Gilbert Arenas — an acquisition that Howard approved, by the way — in the hope that the goofball could find his once brilliant game."
In just how many playoff series did the Magic have better players at their positions? Are we really putting Rashard Lewis and Courtney Lee up against Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant in 2009? And in 2010, just which players were better than Boston’s? Rashard Lewis and Kevin Garnett? Vince Carter and Ray Allen? Matt Barnes and Paul Pierce? Jameer Nelson and Rajon Rondo?
It’s actually just like what LeBron James went through in Cleveland. No one is saying the Magic haven’t tried to surround Howard with championship-caliber talent. They clearly have – Otis Smith has made bold move after bold move in an attempt to improve the team and it just hasn’t worked out. Much like Orlando, Cleveland brought in Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison, among others, but they, like many of Orlando’s acquisitions, flopped.
When Howard explains he hasn’t had much input on the type of moves the team makes, that does put Otis Smith in the wrong. Howard’s played long enough to know what kind of player will maximize not only his strengths, but the strengths of the team as a whole.
And speaking of that 2009 team that won the Eastern Conference, if Otis Smith did such a good job assembling the team, why did he rip it apart, without consulting Howard, by trading away one starter and refusing to sign another? By this time last year, not one player who started a playoff game during that run, aside from Howard, remained on the roster.
"Later Howard lied about wanting to play overseas this year if the lockout continued. He’s a brat, I tell you. A spoiled brat who says one thing, then says another, and doesn’t know how transparent he is."
You’re allowed to change your mind. During my freshman year in college, I was going to go to law school to become a lawyer like my father, but a year or so later, I decided that wasn’t the right fit for me and wasn’t what I wanted to do. Is it really that difficult to believe Howard once thought he was a perfect fit for the Magic or a perfect fit to play overseas and simply changed his mind?
I don’t know how anyone could call Dwight Howard a “builder of nothing.” The Magic posted a record of 21-61 the year before they drafted Howard. Last season, they won at least 52 games for the fourth straight season.
The national media’s perception of Howard is still skewed for one reason or another. Howard really is the guy he is portrayed as and as a big man on the court, he is second to none.
And it’s not close.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, ESPN Florida’s Magic Insider (http://ESPNFlorida.com) and is the co-host of the ESPNFlorida.com Insiders Show Sunday mornings at 10:00 am EST. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him onTwitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here)