Dwight Howard: Greatness, or a smile on the court for D12?

Most of all, let’s not forget that when the Lakers season ended after a 1st round playoff sweep by the San Antonio Spurs, who later on went on to be the Western Conference Champions, Dwight Howard was ejected in the early half of the last game of Lakers season, which is not a sign of a “great” player and more importantly not a sign of a player who is happy with the team he plays for.

Great players don’t lose their temper and commit mistakes, which we saw Dwight do a lot in the last season in LA and also in Orlando. Great players embrace their difficulties and utilise their anger and help their team by playing even better. Lastly, when he was ejected from the final game of the Lakers’ season, he had some words for the general manager Mitchell “Mitch” Kupchak too, which was a first sight for every Laker fan – a player shouting at Kupchack.

All these signs indicate that Dwight is less likely to be back in LA, where he would have the pressure to win and perform like a star that he wants to be. He would rather be in Houston Rockets, where he would have teammates with whom he can have a laugh about winning a championship, and this is justified by the fact that Dwight is a player who loves to smile when he plays on the court. He himself said after being allegedly poked by Kobe Bryant that he hadn’t been serious about the game. More importantly, these incidents indicate the childish nature of the so-called “Best Centre in the League”.

Despite all of these things, we know people can change and most of the times it takes some motivation to drive them to this change. What’s better motivation than all those banners hanging up in the Staples Center?

If Dwight leaves, he will be tagged as the root of problems, which lead him to leave Orlando Magic and now maybe LA. But if he stays and changes himself, even if the Lakers do not win a championship in the coming 1 or 2 years, which is hard to believe if you have the league’s best new changed “C” and one of the best to ever play the game, “The Black Mamba” Kobe Bryant. Dwight will still be recognised as one of the great players and a future hall-of-famer, despite not winning a championship in the coming years.

We will find out what Dwight Howard will be described as in the history of NBA on July 10. After all, “It’s a man’s actions that describe him as a man.”