Houston Rockets: A Loss When Dwight Howard Left L.A.?

Although Dwight Howard experienced a season in Los Angeles that was engulfed in turmoil, the Lakers — who posted “Stay D12” billboards all throughout the streets of L.A. — attempted to persuade the big man to sign with them long term. According to Zach Harper of CBS Sports, coach Mike D’Antoni designed an offense that force fed Howard in the post in order to appease the disgruntled center — to no avail.

After an unceremonious exit from the Orlando Magic a couple years prior, Dwight Howard had decided to consecutively spurn the city of Los Angeles and settle within the confines of Houston; however, was Howard’s decision to leave L.A. beneficial for both parties involved?

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Many variables must be considered when elucidating the unforeseen debacle that transpired during Howard’s one-year tenure with the Lakers. First, coach

Mike Brown

was fired five games into the season and replaced with a man who had a completely different playing style and coaching philosophy, Mike D’Antoni.

Although the 2012-13 Lakers were an older group with a handful of post up players — including two big men down low — D’Antoni remained obstinate in his uptempo, run-and-gun offense. In a futile attempt to run a similar offense to the high-octane Phoenix Suns of the mid-2000s, D’Antoni tried to morph one of the most skilled post players in the league, Pau Gasol, into a mere catch and shoot player from the perimeter in order to generate more post touches for the bellyaching Dwight Howard.

I wrote here how Howard griped to both the media and his teammates about not getting enough touches offensively, despite the fact that D’Antoni had decided to integrate Howard into the offense at the expense of Pau Gasol — which eviscerated the Lakers’ post production. In fact, Per MySynergySports, Howard scored a meager 0.74 points per possession in the post, while turning the ball over 20 percent of the time.

His susceptibility when it came to being stripped of the ball led to numerous transition opportunities for the opposition — which was terrible for a Lakers team that played abominable transition defense. According to the candid Steve Nash, the Lakers actually performed better offensively in games that included Gasol and not Howard.

"“I thought the games that Pau and I played together where Dwight didn’t play, I thought we really played well together and the offense really flowed,” Nash told ESPNLosAngeles.com."

Indeed, Dwight averaged 17.1 points per game and 12.4 rebounds with a bad back, but the stats don’t tell the whole story; Howard’s poor attitude and half-hearted screens on the pick and roll disharmonized the team offensively, often setting the players into a state of discombobulation. The reason that Lakers fans were ecstatic over the idea of pairing Dwight Howard and Steve Nash was due to the fact that Nash was the best pick and roll orchestrator and Dwight was the best pick and roll finisher; therefore, as a tandem, the team would have prospered through hypothetically giving opposing teams much difficulty on defense.

These factors can help explain why the Lakers’ front office were compelled to choose D’Antoni over the highly regarded Phil Jackson when considering how beautifully the pick-and-roll functioned with Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire under D’Antoni’s provision. Steve Nash told ESPN Los Angeles that Howard seemed unwilling to deviate from his incongruous fascination with posting up on the block, instead of utilizing the pick and roll play that best accentuates his formidable athleticism.

Perhaps the NBA’s rich history of post-dominant big men had aroused Howard’s desire to be in the same class. Emulating the NBA’s greatest big men would be commendable if Howard had embellished the qualities necessary for success in the post, but in this scenario, it was arrogant of Howard to hinder his team by estranging himself from the play that he prospers in, just to satisfy his own ego; however, Howard’s egocentricity contributed greatly to the gloom that pervaded Los Angeles for reasons beyond his malformed post game.

From flashing a stat sheet around the locker room and showing how he only got five shot attempts, to squabbling with Steve Nash — one of the greatest passers of all-time — for failing to deliver him the ball on a nationally televised game against the Miami Heat and causing a scene, to reportedly envying Kobe Bryant‘s superstar status and demanding similar treatment as Bryant, Howard was clearly consumed with anxious self-absorption — instead of playing with the hand he was dealt and sacrificing for the betterment of the team.

The only method Howard knew and was willing to carry out was the one that allowed him to shine.

Howard was so preoccupied with fixing his tarnished reputation in order to be endeared again by the many NBA fans who had turned on him — which resulted in a hasty return to the hardwood floor. Howard even admitted to returning too rapidly from back surgery.

He uttered some variation of the “feel bad for me, I’m hurt” spiel throughout his one-year tenure with the Lakers. His relentless verbalization regarding his decision to play with a smile on his face despite of the pain he was experiencing contradicted the very heroism that he was trying to portray. I don’t recall the real Superman ever soliciting recognition for his heroic acts.

The fans of Los Angeles would give ear to none of his desperate pleas for acceptance and adulation — perhaps a proper rehabilitation period would’ve spared the fans the drama. To this day, Howard is apparently still rehashing the same “poor me” sentiment.

"“I wish the information could’ve come across to the world about how hurt I really was, how serious the back injury was, but I never thought it really did,” Howard told Yahoo Sports."

Howard has shown a propensity for thriving off of the acceptance of others throughout his drama-stricken NBA career, and he never felt comfortable being scrutinized under the bright lights of Los Angeles. Based on his actions, the big man sought to please those around him in order to gain approval — and still does. That’s the cold reality of his recent quote to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:

"“We’re all humans. We want to be liked. We want people to enjoy who we are. I want peace. We’re built to feel love, not hate. It’s a tough situation for somebody like me, because I try to be so giving of myself. So, I’ll try the best I can."

His people-pleasing tendencies perhaps impinge upon his game on the court, as he openly admitted in an interview with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith that he’s an awful free throw shooter — despite being a capable shooter from the free throw line and the mid-range in practice — because he’s perturbed with the backlash he receives for missing his free throws.

Charles Barkley, who has shown support for Howard in the past, had lost faith in Howard’s ability to be a franchise player in L.A. after getting exposed with the Lakers.

"“I’ve always subscribed to the theory that Dwight was a franchise player you can build your team around and Shaq does not think so. I gotta tell you something, I’m starting to side with Shaq a little bit. I think Dwight is a very, very good player, but I’m not sure he has that mental toughness to be a franchise player. Because the one thing you have to be, have to be, you have to be tough…watching him crumble under criticism from Kobe, criticism from fans, criticism from the media this year. I’m not sure he can stay in LA, because Kobe’s only going to play another year anyway, and then it will be Dwight’s team and all that pressure will be on his back.”"

Many NBA fans outside of Los Angeles enjoy framing Kobe Bryant as a selfish teammate. Bryant may not possess the qualities of a perfect teammate; yet it was Kobe who adjusted to Howard’s game and personality by supporting his free throw shooting woes and facilitating the ball more than he ever has in his prolonged NBA career.

Contrarily, Howard had great difficulty adjusting to an unfamiliar environment compared to Orlando, where he was the coddled Superman. Kobe Bryant’s demanding and hard-driving approach was unlike anything Howard’s ever encountered, and Lakers fans were very critical of Howard’s underwhelming play for the majority of the season.

Although those same fans are constantly bombarded with the “you’re just bitter because Dwight spurned the Lakers!” motif, the fact of the matter is that Howard’s departure induced a much needed sigh of relief for LA, that will proceed as the Lakers look elsewhere for the next superstar who Kobe can pass his torch to when retirement day comes. Meanwhile, Howard is visibly happier with his new team in Texas, and seemingly has no regrets.

"“I’m glad it did happen. It made me a better person. The world coming down on you, saying you weren’t playing as hard as you could. It made me stronger. “"

Although Bryant’s demeanor repelled Howard, perhaps the dissonance he faced with the tenacious and laser-focused Kobe Bryant helped mold and shape Howard into not only a stronger player, but also a better leader. No longer would “Superman” be a young coddled superstar, but a grown up, consummated professional. Dwight’s entering his second season in the NBA as a Rocket.

He’s recollected his mistakes, and he’s both physically and mentally prepared to carry the Rockets to new heights this season.

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Houston Rockets: Was Dwight Howard’s Departure From Los Angeles a Loss?

By jasaad | Oct 9, 2014