“Basketball star Dwight Howard stepped in for Shaquille O’Neal on the program and was grilled by his fellow panelists”.
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“And, you know, it really hurts me because my heart and my attitude toward the game has always been the same”.
Dwight Howard appeared on Inside the National Basketball Association on Tuesday night (May 10) to fill in for Shaq. during which host Charles Barkley asked him, bluntly, why people hate him so much.
The 30-year old Howard has been adjusting to Harden’s offense but the Rockets does not see him inside the paint where he is most effective.
The segment humanized Howard, whose reputation nationally has never recovered after his messy final season with the Orlando Magic.
For Nowitzki, the current power forward for the Dallas Mavericks, the team will benefit more from signing a player other than Howard. Howard was genuinely pained at the idea that he cared more about himself than his team.
“I hated the fact that we got put out when we did”.
Howard’s image is in need of a rehabilitation ahead of his free agency both on and off the court, stemming from his muddled departure from Orlando.
When Dwight sat down for the interview, Barkley didn’t waste any time addressing the elephant in the room, asking Dwight straight up why he thinks people don’t like him. My drive has always been there.
Howard was the NBA’s best center for a few years, and though he remains better than most, he no longer holds that distinction. It felt believable, and for the first time ever since he left Orlando it made me want to like him again. He’s technically still a Houston Rocket, but he can opt out of his contract this summer and become a free agent. “I have to grow and be a better player at that”. At this point, that’s a big if, but, if the deal ultimately goes through, and if the franchise can find a way to get through to Howard and get him to buy in to their philosophy, it’s certainly possible for him to give them a lift and produce. It’s a thin line.do I not smile?
Howard also admitted frustration at times with his role in Houston, saying that as a big man who can’t bring the ball up the floor, create his own shot, or space the floor, he wants to feel more involved and helped by teammates.
Howard did say Houston’s failure to challenge the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs “pissed me off”, he wants to “change that perception that I don’t really take this game seriously” and “I want to win”. “You get to know me, I’m laid back, I want to have fun”.
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We’ll have to see but it’s highly-likely that the Rockets chapter of the book of Howard’s career will have an appropriate epilogue likely accentuated with an asterisk because of what would’ve been if things had worked out.
