Roundtable: Recapping the Dwightmare
What are your thoughts on Dwight Howard’s free agency process?
CC: I’m relieved. It was exhausting, especially the last night, and I wasn’t even around for the whole thing. We all knew that is was going to be madness just based off of the Orlando situation. As strange as this sounds, I found it to be highly entertaining. Seeing reports go out on Twitter, only to have people react right away was pretty funny to watch. I don’t blame Howard for most of it, though; his camp was leaking stuff left and right.
JR: Would you expect anything less out of Dwight Howard? In one respect, he personally informed every team of his decision, even letting the Lakers know before telling Houston he signed. However, he has to be held responsible for his camp that had more leaks than the sinking Titanic. Howard’s already shaky reputation took another huge hit this off-season. Few players have a knack for making fans hate him like Howard does.
Feb 7, 2013; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard (12) argues a call with a referee during the first quarter against the Boston Celtics at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
FR: The Dwight Howard free agent tour went as expected. Howard met with suitors, they pitched their sales proposal and then Howard pondered his choices. I do believe that Howard knew exactly where he wanted to go all along and the entire spectacle this last week was unnecessary. He could have handled it like Chris Paul by just announcing his decision prior to the start of the free agent period and saved all of us this whole ordeal.
BB: I’m really glad it’s over. It was a distraction all season that wasn’t needed. With all the reports of his interest in Houston, his discomfort with MDA, and Kobe challenging him to man-up, I was really just waiting for his announcement that he was Houston-bound. Dwight should also consider surrounding himself with a better “camp”; far too many reports were leaked ultimately leading to his Rockets announcement, and if he had indeed changed his mind again at the last second and chose the Lakers, I think it’d be hard for the fans to ever truly accept him, knowing he was really only there for the extra money.
CL: I thought Dwight did a good job throughout the process. The media on the other hand, was incredibly ridiculous. We had reports coming out left and right from reporters hoping to be the one to break the Dwight Howard story. So more false flags were raised than you can even count. I found myself longing for a LeBron-type “Decision,” something I never thought I would say.