Has everyone already forgotten the magnitude of the decision? Dwight Howard’s cat and mouse game has baffled us all but it doesn’t come close to reaching the 9.0 on the Richter scale that Lebron’s decision did. Lebron James shook the entire world and changed the entire landscape of the NBA. Dwight Howard is mildly disrupting it.
What is almost as mind-boggling as Dwight Howard’s Mitt Romney-like flip-flopping, is the amount of analysts who are equating this indecision, and even putting it above, “The Decision.” Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated says D-12 will be “every bit the villain Lebron James was in Cleveland” if he stays with Orlando for remainder of the season and signs elsewhere as a free agent.
Absolute nonsense.
Lebron James gave a sexy tease to one of the hardest luck sports cities in North America, only to embarrass them on national TV to create a super team in Miami. Cleveland’s hopes and dreams for some sort of meaningful professional sports championship rested solely in the gigantic hands of Lebron James and he spurned them in the worst way imaginable. Cleveland may have taken it a bit hard but that was to be expected considering the manner in which Lebron handed down his remorseless verdict.
Lebron is still a villain. He can’t shake the label because he is not likeable. He never was. For some reason, it took “The Decision” for people to see it. Nevertheless, Lebron is now loved by fans about as much as a 1st grader loves Brussels sprouts. That won’t change anytime soon.
Dwight is a fan favourite. He is Superman. You can’t stay mad at Superman forever. Seriously though, Dwight is beloved. Lebron was a fan favourite but it was never the same as Dwight. Howard’s antics right now are rubbing people the wrong way but one of those patented Stan Van Gundy impressions will turn the fans back around. If not, his Hollywood smile will. The King sneers while Superman smiles.
Even though Dwight Howard seems to be getting damage control lessons from the Lebron James entourage school of public relations these days, he hasn’t done enough to soil his reputation the way LBJ did. Heck, Superman could hold his own TV special and he wouldn’t be half the villain Lebron is.
Orlando residents don’t long for a championship the way the Cleveland fans did and still do. The front office and fans might be doing just as much as Cleveland did (maybe more?) to keep Howard in a Magic uniform but the animosity towards him following their inevitable split could never be the same.
Dwight Howard will be booed when he comes back to Orlando in a *insert team name here*jersey but he won’t be booed around the league.
This doesn’t “rival Lebron James’ exodus from Cleveland” as Sam Amick tries to tell us. It would be foolish to think that Dwight Howard could ever be thought of in the same light as Lebron James. Dwight Howard has yet to give up on his team despite the trade demands. His quietness stopped playing in game 5 of the Eastern Finals when hopes for a championship and his return to the city of Cleveland were still sky-high.
“The Decision” was the O.J. trial for the sports world.
Dwight’s indecision hardly tops the ‘Melo drama we were witness to last year.
Superman should have known better than to anger the masses in a way more befitting Batman. I cannot tell you the reason why he was unable to learn from Lebron and Carmelo. Dwight Howard has screwed up big time. I get it.
Just don’t go around likening it to “The Decision.”
20 yr old UBC Student. Live and breathe sports. My writing is edgy. Not the typical stuff you find. Hit up my blog - Painting the Black - you won't regret it. Follow @paintstheblack
