When Dwight Howard took to the podium after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-2 in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals, no one in the room knew that they were witnessing the peak of the young center’s career.
Howard seemed destined for a greatness. That night, the 23 year-old scored 40 points and grabbed 18 rebounds to knock league MVP LeBron James out of the playoffs. The Magic’s GM Otis Smith said days later that Howard’s performance in the eastern conference finals was “just the very tip of the iceberg.”
While Howard’s impressive on-court skill set had be obvious for years, he was now reportedly, “maturing incrementally almost every day as a leader off the court” as well. Apparently, the leagues latest self-proclaimed Superman was ready to ditch his glasses for a cape full-time.
Howard played well in the 2009 NBA finals (15.5 PPG, 15 RPG, 4.0 BPG, 60% FG) but Kobe, Pau and Phil proved too tough. The Magic lost to the Lakers 4-1.
The next season, Howard defended his title of Defensive Player of the Year and finished second in MVP voting to Derrick Rose. The Magic swept the first two rounds of the 2010 playoffs but were knocked off by the Celtics in the ECF; the league’s best center would not make consecutive finals appearances.
Since the end of the 2010 season, Howard has continued to demonstrate that his rare combination of talent and athleticism is unmatched at his position. When exerting maximum effort, Howard is the best center in the league. He has also proven that he is immature, apathetic and generally intolerable.
Howard’s rap sheet of childish outbursts is extensive. He’s an awful teammate and is disliked by most other players in the league. At times, he demonstrates an incredible ability to take over games and an equally amazing ability to throw them away.
But what’s most discouraging about Howard is his spectacular lack of self-awareness. He created one of the NBA’s most awkward practice moments in 2011 when he interrupted an interview with Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. SVG had just acknowledge to reporters that Howard wanted him fired. The best part of the video is at 2:07, when Van Gundy says,
“The only thing I’m ever uncomfortable with is bullshit. The only thing that liberates me is just: be honest and deal with what’s out there. Some people have a hard time with that I guess.”
Seconds after he says this – Cue Dwight! The big man walks over with an “it’s all good” look on his face and an puts a giant arm around his coach. Howard’s expression and gesture is so clearly 1000% bullshit. This kind of perfectly scripted, cringe-worthy awkwardness is typically only found in the conference room at Dunder Mifflin.
(Also, which Dwight is more socially oblivious? Howard or Schrute? It’s a toss-up for sure.)
Most recently, “Superman” announced that despite being knocked out of the playoffs by the Golden State Warriors, he “is still a champion no matter what anyone else says.” (Howard has never won an NBA championship; although, in fairness, he did lead the South West Atlanta Christian Academy Warriors to state title in his senior year of high school..)