Dwight Howard doesn’t think that Dwight Howard was all that bad of an influence on his former team, the Atlanta Hawks.
Speaking with the media ahead of Friday’s game against the Hawks, the Charlotte Hornets center took time to respond to reports over the offseason that he was a negative locker room influence in Atlanta.
“I think that’s stupid,” said the three-time Defensive Player of the Year, according to Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “Because how could you win an award for being the best teammate in your locker room but then be the most negative guy? That doesn’t make sense. So whoever said that obviously was trying to make a story.
“I’ve been nothing but professional,” Howard continued. “Anybody who’s ever been in that locker room knows who I am as a player and a person. They know that in the locker room, I’m not a guy who’s gonna bring any negativity out and do all the whispering. If I have something to say, I’m gonna say it to you. So all that stuff is always false, but I understand people need stories and people need to make money, so they gonna make the story that they need.”
The perception of Howard as a bad teammate has followed him for many years now. But Cunningham does add that the eight-time All-Star was indeed named the Hawks’ Best Teammate in the NBAPA’s Players Voice Awards last season, so the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle here.
