Many media members have decided that Dwight Howard is going to leave Orlando for Los Angeles. Dwight hasn’t indicated that was the case, but he also didn’t help himself when he refused to answer a question about his future in a recent interview. There is little doubt his impending free agency is a sore subject, and he’s unfortunately in a lose-lose situation. When he tries to ignore the subject, people take it as a sign. And now that he’s spoken out, people will blow it out of proportion. Here’s what Howard wrote on twitter Monday night during the Thunder-Grizzlies game:
“Y does it seem like the writers of Orlando sentinel are tryna push me out of Orlando with dumb articles. It’s annoying. Can I enjoy my summer and get ready for next season in Orlando. Pls. Same thing u guys did to Shaq. Smh”
First off, I don’t recall anyone pushing Shaq out of town. Far as I remember, he always wanted to come to LA to be a star in Hollywood*. As for the writers trying to push him out of town, I’m guessing he’s referring to an article posted Monday afternoon titled “The Lakers are coming after Dwight Howard.”
Here’s the part I’m guessing bothered him the most:
What’s worse than the Magic’s season going bust?
The Lakers’ season going bust.
It means the Lakers — 15 years after stealing Shaquille O’Neal from Orlando — are poised to try to swipe another superstar center from the Magic.
This what they do, historically speaking. (See Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain).
It’s only a matter of which big man the Lakers will offer the Magic for Howard — Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum. Most likely it is Bynum, considering Gasol is more of a power forward.
That writer was doing what everyone in LA and half the media and fans are doing … discussing Dwight Howard to the Lakers possibilities. Dwight says he wants to see Orlando offer an extension. He also added on twitter that it’s one story after the other, day after day, and that the writers don’t speak for him. He even told someone “I love my city.”
So why hasn’t Dwight given a guarantee he won’t leave? I’m guessing he wants to know what Orlando’s plans are to build around him before he makes a decision. Will they be able to get out of the cap situation they have (paying Gilbert Arenas $62 million over the next three years and Hedo Turkoglu $24 million)? Will they try and bring in another star player such as Chris Paul or Deron Williams? Dwight has a player option for the 2012-2013 season, and if I’m him I wouldn’t spend more seasons in Orlando than I have to unless they’ve presented a plan that makes it clear they can change things up. The Magic have an MVP player in Dwight, but it’s clear the talent around him is not good enough to compete with the elite teams in the NBA.
What really sucks is Dwight is going to face the questions for a whole year. The reality is that fans and the media have as much fun talking about potential transactions as they do watching games. Because of that reason, Dwight shouldn’t expect this to stop anytime too soon. He’s the new LeBron and will be hearing questions for quite some time. As long as he doesn’t do The Decision Part II, we’ll all be set.
*Miami sports talk host Jorge Sedano informs us that the Orlando Sentinel “ran a telling poll on its front page. The newspaper asked readers if Shaq was worth a $100 million deal. The overwhelming answer was no.”
