If there were a soundtrack to the life of Dwight Howard, these past two years would simply feature Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” being played on a continuous loop.
At least that’s the song I’d pick for him, because to watch Howard agonize over where he plays professional basketball, it requires a heavy dose of the reality elixir being administered in high dosage – to himself.
If we thought LeBron James was bad, if we despised the posturing, self-aggrandizing and egocentric ways of 2010’s “The Decision” – then what do we make of this, the Indecision?
You cannot even put a year stamp on it, because it’s spanned two years now – and who knows if it will truly end when Dwight picks a place to play.
Being disgusted by the nerve of professional athletes as they cleverly maneuver from Point A to Point B kind of comes with the territory. Every few years, with someone like James, or Alex Rodriguez, it reaches new heights among sports fandom. We gripe, complain, let out our angst, burn some jerseys and then move on.
But what happens when the athlete – in this case, Dwight Howard – really seems tormented by such decisions? It’s like Howard didn’t get the memo. He’s supposed to be running this joke of a process. Yet Howard seems to be earnestly unaware of how preposterous this charade has become.
Perhaps, as was pointed out the other day by another talking head on the radio, Howard truly doesn’t know what he wants because it changes constantly. And this could be due to not going to college, as was suggested. It could be that by never being in charge of his direction at the age of 18 and selecting where he wanted to go, he’s always had this lingering thought in the back of his mind that other people held the cards.
So you didn’t go to college, Dwight? Well, that too, was your decision. Blaming others is a weak façade, especially in the world of professional sports – no matter if it works or not.
But this is what Howard believes: that currently, this free agency period is his first chance to control what he wants to do.
Problem is, he doesn’t know what he wants. Putting deadlines of making a decision today won’t change that.
What’s weird is how Howard reacts and handles his business after a decision is made. It’s been revealed he still talks with Stan Van Gundy – even after that awkward moment when everyone knew Dwight had told Magic management to let SVG go. He wants to be legendary, to be remembered in the lineage of NBA bigs, but somehow doesn’t seem the connection with the Lakers and oh, Wilt, Kareem and Shaq. Instead, he’s leaning towards Houston, Golden State and Dallas.
Whatever.
There was a time this drama would captivate us, now it feels like updates on Howard are force fed, and they are wildly uncomfortable for everyone, from the people doing the reporting, to those analyzing on radio and TV, to basketball fans that must be in the know, even if they don’t really want to know.
Of all people, Kobe Bryant probably said it best. It’s been reported that during the Lakers pitch to Howard earlier this week, Bryant looked Dwight in the eyes and told him to “put some roots down.” In other words, just make up your mind, man. At this point, we’ve forgotten whether or not we care – just that we want some finality to it.
Maybe Brett Favre changed that for us. Or LeBron. Or the unending coverage. Or a combination of all the above, plus other events. Either way, we’ve become intolerant and resistant to the manufactured drama.
NBA free agency has always been this weird process that sits outside of what is normal in sports or the world. The circus comes to town, everyone loses their mind like they are drunk at a friend’s wedding, making promises they can’t keep about staying in touch.
There are recruiting calls from those loyal to a franchise, packaged presentations with videos, billboards, fake jerseys, Pat Riley tossing down a bag full of rings. Franchises in Texas and Florida always pull out the “no state income tax” card, because stuff like that matters to someone earning $16 million a year. Weather, wives, schools for their children, the possibility of a player becoming a “global brand.”
It’s nonsense. It works. It’s part of it, yet it’s also out of control.
Americans already live in a world of excess compared to the rest of the globe, a country obsessed with gadgets, gossip and material goods. Oh, and money. So it says quite a bit that we, as a collective whole, feel disgusted over a situation like Dwight Howard’s free agency. The disgusting have become the disgusted.
And for what, really? A relatively young center with lots of miles on the tires, with a bad back and a fragile ego who’s never won anything other than individual awards, considered the best at his position during a period of the game when that position happens to be at its weakest? If I were the Lakers, I would have rethought the billboards and banners based on how the season played out.
If this feels like an attack, well, it probably is. Mainly because Dwight Howard is the epitome of an ego run amuck. At least Allen Iverson kept his cornrows and never changed a bit. We knew what was going to happen. In fact, most players are who they are.
Howard, however, came into the league sporting his religious background and a massive smile. He spoke like a cross of the religious Baldwin brother and Champ Kind. He was all about having fun on the court. The east coast home of Mickey Mouse seemed a perfect and wholesome place for Howard.
Somewhere along the way, Howard looked around and thought he was just as good and marketable as all these other fools. He deserved rings and love. Neither came in Orlando. Not much in of either in L.A. My assumption is he won’t find much in the next city as well, until he can forget about what everyone thinks and just becomes happy with being Dwight Howard.
And working on his offensive game more than five feet from the basket, but I digress.
The underlying fear of all this is that even once Howard picks a place, puts down some roots, they will be soft roots. What happens when he gets injured? If the media turns on him a bit? If the team doesn’t perform up to expectations? Howard has spent so much time pointing fingers at everyone else the past few years, there’s no one left to point to.
Except maybe if he found a mirror.
Notice how little of this has to do with money? It’s always been about conduct unbecoming. We’ll forgive a lot and forget a lot as Americans, as sports fans. Just don’t whittle away our patience for your plight.
But Howard has reached that point, probably long ago. We don’t care, Dwight. And it seems the people who play with you and that are pursuing you are growing weary to this saga as well.
If any redemption can be found, this is the recommendation: decide. Stick and stay. Go away from our public stream of conscious. Let some other jerk take the spotlight. Let us look at a stat box next March and say, “D12 had 34 and 18 again last night? Dang.”
For now, just go sell your crazy somewhere else. We’re all stocked up here.
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