Dwight Howard's Clusterfuck Is Now Houston's Problem

[Sauru]

It'd be fun to see the Rockets in the Finals against the Heat. Will people watch two of the most hated players in league history? I think so. TV rating will do great.

rockets vs nets finals would be better. actually any finals not involving the heat would be fun for me to watch. fuck the stupid ass heat and all their used-to-love-the-magic-but-now-i-love-the-heat bandwagoners

[NovU]

[Andrew]

The Howard stuff has been done to death and his decision has long been made, but I thought that this BDL piece in response to Jim Buss' claim that Howard was never really a Laker made some good points about the negotiations and the Lakers' mindset as they look to rebuild.

As Bucher suggests and Jeanie Buss says, it would be wrong to act as if the Lakers didn't want Howard around. From the moment they acquired him, the team's executives and players spoke about Howard as if he would be around for many seasons, building a personal legacy and adding to the rich history of the NBA's most consistently successful organization. It's true that Howard didn't achieve those goals, but the Lakers certainly imagined Howard in their colors right up until the moment he decided to head to the Rockets. It appears as if Jim Buss is using the unhappy conclusion to Howard's season with the franchise to rewrite the terms of their relationship.

His comments would not be much of a story if they didn't connect to an increasingly common tendency of Lakers partisans. During Howard's free agent recruitment period, it was often said that he would choose the Lakers if he wanted to team up with a franchise of proven winners. Yet that argument never seemed entirely connected to realities[/b] in which the Rockets had a young core of improving players (as well as a clear organizational philosophy) and the Lakers spent an entire season with an uncertain sense of their on-court structure. It was as if the Lakers believed their rich history conferred upon them magical powers, not admitting that their success (while certainly aided by luck) arose from pursuing new opportunities and never resting on the strength of their image.

Claiming that Howard was "never really a Laker" seems to buy into that mystique without taking on-the-ground realities seriously. It's somewhat reminiscent of New York Yankees' fans insistence in the mid-2000s that the team's failure to win a World Series after a period of dominance was a sign that general manager Brian Cashman wasn't acquiring "True Yankees," players like Paul O'Neill who apparently understood the mythic forces that animated the franchise's success.

[NovU]

Yeah, I read that. Made me laugh when I first read "never really a Laker". I still LoL. It's something you'd expect to hear from media and fans, but hearing that from an owner, it somewhat sounds like a butt-sore whining from an elitist.

[Haxz0rz1337]

http://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1k ... on/cbp6opk

Anyone thinks this will be bs?

[Andrew]

They can try it, I suppose. If it fails, he better have a Plan B.

[Sauru]

sampson olajuwon 2.0?

[benji]

sampson olajuwon 2.0?

Don't version 2.0s usually add features, not take them away? (Like say, scoring outside of five feet of the basket)

[Patr1ck]

sampson olajuwon 2.0?

Don't version 2.0s usually add features, not take them away? (Like say, scoring outside of five feet of the basket)

Plenty of features were added. An upgraded wining system, for example.

[Bruce]

I think the Houston coaching staff were stuck with Asik. Asik wanted to start or be moved and nobody wanted his huge contract. So I think to upease Asik, they threw around the idea that they'd play Asik and DH together. I'd say good luck to them though in rotating the ball in the post when the two play together.

[shadowgrin]

http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/bo ... asia-arena

For most of his visit to the Philippines, Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard received a lot of love from basketball-crazy Filipino fans.

But Howard also had a taste of backlash for his decision to leave the popular Los Angeles Lakers franchise in the offseason.

During the Rockets’ preseason game on Thursday night against the Indiana Pacers, Howard was on the receiving end of some boos from the crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena.

There were also scattered chants of “Kobe! Kobe!” in reference to Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, with whom Howard had a clash of personality during his one season stint in Los Angeles.

I hope that pleases our god-king Kobe Bryant.

[Jackal]

Howard is a bitch. Good on the Pinoys booing his quitting ass. I hope he never wins a championship.

[_Steve_]

I hope that pleases our god-emperor Kobe Bryant.

Fixed that for you. King is reserved for the lesser beings...

[Mandich]

Can't wait for the Rockets @ LA game

[benji]

Howard said he was disappointed that, last February, after the Magic acquired Tobias Harris in a trade, the team granted Harris' request to wear No. 12, Howard's old number.

"I just think that despite whatever happened, there was a lot of things that I did and that we did as a team, and that number was special down there," Howard said. "And I was a little bit upset about that."

[JaoSming]

[Maximus89]

Howard is a bitch. Good on the Pinoys booing his quitting ass. I hope he never wins a championship.

And what exactly did he quit? He was traded to LA. He never signed with them. So how could he quit? He was a free agent and freely chose where he wanted to be. He didn't owe LA anything. Not only that, he played through injuries all year for them when he could have easily sat out for months. Did he quit on Orlando? Possibly. Orlando had years and year to build something right, instead they made panic trades for overpaid players for quick fixes and ended up screwing themselves and their cap. Demanding a trade isn't quitting. Is Kobe a quitter for demanding to play for only the Lakers when he was drafted? Was he too scared to play for anyone else other than a proven winning franchise? Why couldn't he carry a franchise and make them winners? Also he quit on the Lakers in game 7 against the suns. He demanded a trade from the precious lakers after only 2 years of sucking til they were handed Pau Gasol. If people now defend LBJ for leaving the Cavs, how is Dwight's situation any different?

Even if Dwight didn't join my Rockets, i for one am glad someone finally gave the Los Angeles fans the middle finger. Worst fans ever. I can tolerate Heat fans because you know they have only been watching since LBJ got there or since DWade won a ring with Shaq and even yet, Heat games are filled with empty seats(bc all their "fans" live elsewhere) and Miami doesn't care about sports(Dolphins fans were all bandwagon fans too from the undefeated team in 72?). They are more of a sad, pathetic bandwagon you can laugh at. Lakers bandwagon is filed with delusional and obnoxious fans who think Kobe is god and the city of LA is heaven. They are like that religious nut that no matter what you do or what facts you give them to dispute their god or beliefs, they will ignore it with something ridiculous like "the devil placed those lies there" or "jesus created those paegan gods long b4 his own existence to test our faith." Bulls/Jordan fans are tolerable bc well...MJ is GOAT..hard to argue against them.

[Jackal]

Blah blah blah Rockets fan out of nowhere popping up. He quit when he got tossed out of the game against the Spurs. Dwight Coward.

Worst. Fans. Evar!! LAAKERS OMG at least we Heat fans are truest fans of ever in the most NBA awesome campaign yes. Yeah delusional fans every where wwho only watch LA thinking Kobe is da GOD when in fact we know he is actually referred to an emperor on these forums by cock suck Laker fans they are religious nuts who are about pagan deities..

Wait...what the fuck? Your post was so fucked up you even lost me. I'm king of fucked up and couldn't keep up.

[Andrew]

Howard said he was disappointed that, last February, after the Magic acquired Tobias Harris in a trade, the team granted Harris' request to wear No. 12, Howard's old number.

"I just think that despite whatever happened, there was a lot of things that I did and that we did as a team, and that number was special down there," Howard said. "And I was a little bit upset about that."

I guess it's fair enough for him to feel that way. Still, I don't think it was anywhere near a lock that they'd retire his jersey some day, so it's not like they were inclined to keep it officially unavailable. If he'd left on better terms, it might have been a different story; perhaps they'd at least have waited a little longer before letting someone have #12.

[Patr1ck]

Why the hell would a team retire a player's number while that player was still playing in the league? This guys logic doesn't make sense to me.

[Andrew]

They wouldn't retire it, it'd just unofficially be unavailable. For example, when Scottie Pippen left the Bulls and Hersey Hawkins was brought in a year later, he couldn't wear the #33 that he had previously as the team was keeping it aside so they could retire it when the time came, with Pip being the last Bull to wear it.

I assume Howard was hoping for a similar approach by Orlando, though there's obviously a big difference between what Pip meant to the Bulls and Howard meant to the Magic. If nothing else, he probably feels slighted that they didn't wait a little longer before letting someone else wear "his" #12, or that it didn't go to a bigger name player.

[Jackal]

Harris wears #12 in memory of his friend who passed away because of leukemia at 17 or so..

Boo hoo he was hurt the team let someone else wear his number. This guy can keep saying he's "grown" and "learned"...he's still a fucking baboon (with terrible hands mind you).

[Alpha_]

Watta joke. He hasn't proven anything yet. Stop being a crybaby, Dwight.

[_Steve_]

At least he's Houstons's crybaby now... and a retard....

[Jackal]

Watta joke. He hasn't proven anything yet. Stop being a crybaby, Dwight.

"I haven't won a championship but I'm in the NBA. That's winning. I'm blessed to be able to play this game, blessed to come out of back surgery. Winning isn't all about just having a championship, but winning in life.