Maybe Dwight Howard really didn’t like playing in Orlando.
In an interview with KCAL, a local Los Angeles CBS station, the former Orlando Magic Center described his old playing mates as a suite of folks “nobody in the NBA wanted.”
That’s kind of a kick in the stomach to the team that Howard cut his NBA teeth with. Not to mention the Magic are a lowly 17-44 this season, so dissing them when they are so far down is usually the classy thing to do.
Since Howard’s departure from the “O,” he hasn’t said many nice things about the Magic. Actually, this all started before he was traded to the Lakers in August of last year.
Before the end of the 2011-12 season, Howard was accused of asking Magic team management to fire former head coach Stan Van Gundy, fighting with point guard Jameer Nelson and famously asking for a trade to the Brooklyn Nets.
Come to think of it, Howard not only disliked playing for the Magic toward the end, he cried his way out of Orlando, and the tears haven’t stopped flowing.
Before throwing his huge shoulders around and forcing his way to Los Angeles, Howard had back surgery in April of 2012 to repair a herniated disk. He had the surgery in Los Angeles, rehabbed in Los Angeles, and now plays for Los Angeles.
But for some reason, he can’t stop talking about Orlando.
The worst part about this is that so many Magic fans still love Howard. Though he no longer plays for the Magic, his stamp is all over the Amway Center downtown. Fans would flock to that building to see his rim shaking dunks, pearly white smile and vivacious personality.
His jerseys are still painted across the bodies of many Magic fans, although the halls of the Amway Center aren’t as animated because Howard’s pictures no longer hang.
Simply put: He was the draw. Folks came to see the Dwight Howard show more than what the Magic were doing on the floor. It was great that they had success during his tenure in Orlando, but Howard is smart enough to realize that he’s the reason so many fans decided to purchase a ticket to see the Magic play.
Maybe that’s why he has such a pretentious attitude toward his former team. Maybe he misses being the center of attention and receiving praise at every turn. Maybe Howard truly overlooked that he was a big fish in a small pond.
A lot of maybes, but the bottom line for him and his growth as an NBA player, it is time for him to mature.
Howard is the one who wanted out of Orlando, and told his fair share of lies and tales as a way to get out.
He fashioned himself as a clean-cut, wholesome athlete who just wanted to play basketball. Now that he’s in a bigger media market, stories that the Orlando media buried him are starting to break.
Take the one where Howard is supposedly the father of five different kids with four women.
With his recent comments about his dreadful former teammates, injuries, throwing his coach over a bridge, getting live with a teammate, and not liking his new ones in Los Angeles, I think Howard is the one who really needs Orlando, not the other way around.
-JH
[…] I guess Dwight Howard really does hate Orlando. […]
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