D12 is the man he'll be back to MVP 2nd best player in the league form this season. He's happy secure locked in and has the coaches, players, org , owner and most importantly the fans behind him. This is when d12 excells, I expect his best season as a basketball player this yr. Don't sell this team or the greatness of dwight we will be I'm the NBA finals this yr. hardens already a top 10 player and will be better this coming season. Parsons offense will come more natural and easy and he can go back to being the wing stopper Paul George type player we need him to be.
I like what I heard - honestly surprised he even answered some of those questions. I expected the questions about Phil Jackson to be spun so quickly without an actual answer ever given. Now we enter the worst part of the year for a fan now - waiting 3 months for any sort of on court action.
LOL I dunno , do you think so really? Durant is such a nice guy though as far as not getting involved in all the drama the NBA can offer. I just see him as an NBA Darling
I just realized that before today I did not know Dwight Howard. The maturity and the respect he gave to those who were not at all nice to him, speaks volumes. Whatever reservations I had about Dwight become a Rocket are squashed. Welcome to Houston, Big Fella.
Agree. Bayless already blamed him for losing to MEM in the playoffs w/o Westbrook. Sadly, this will most likely contribute to Durant running away from OKC to join a ready-made team like Lebron, Howard, etc. Bad for the league.
I'll play devil's advocate : is it maturity or rehearsed answers? Meaning, were these spontaneous questions followed by spontaneous answers or were these questions he knew were coming and answers he'd been rehearsing for a while and coached to answer in the manner he did? I really don't care, to be honest, because I think Dwight knows he's made mistakes in the past but his "leaving the Lakers fiasco" was 90% manufactured by a few media nitwits and wasn't as chaotic as it seemed. I hope he did grow up and focuses on basketball instead of goofing off. I want him to be the anchor of a team that makes opposing teams say "damn" when they see who's on the schedule next and see the Rockets.
Sorry for the long post but,: Then it's a perfect storm. He is in a small town and is creating tons of buzz for its city. He is the second best player on the planet and yet has not really accomplished getting a championship (regardless of logical excuses). He is a nice guy who has his little "flaws" (gets techs, hides his tats... little things the media likes to make into a stupid story -- crap, will they label him "too nice to win it all?"). The fact that he is the NBA's darling, makes it PERFECT for a place like ESPN to tear him down. In fact, I can't think of a better person to fit the role. It happens to everyone it seems. It happened to Kobe. He was such a hard worker. It was WELL documented that when all of the other players were out partying and having a good time, Kobe was in his hotel room reading and studying tape. He was probably the LAST person in the NBA who his teammates would have thought he would rape a woman. Then BOOM, accusation of rape. He over came that (from a lot of people) once he won again. It had nothing to do with whether they believed he did it or not! It had to do with his winning. It's like he won and that was good enough for the people who were on the fence on whether or not he did it. Lebron, played for his hometown. Small place and not a lot of love was given to Cleveland. He put them on the map. His whole career he has been coined King James, even when he was like... 14 he was getting serious LOVE! The dude is the perfect story. Single mom, well spoken (in his interviews) young man who plays the game unselfishly. He hasn't won anything yet. His "childish" actions start getting magnified. He then is TOO childish to win a championship. He doesn't have the drive Jordan did. He doesn't have the finesse Jordan did. Then, the decision. Wow. What a huge mistake. One of the most over dramatized reactions to anything in sports I have ever witnessed. Really? He became public enemy number 1! Then,... he wins a ship. Now two! What now? People are actually starting to respect and LIKE Lebron. Let's move on to Dwight. Well, he came in from high school. What a man child. He was so athletic and FUN. He was able to lead a team to the big show ALL while having FUN. Not fun like, "let's go out and play out hearts out." But, "let's joke around and be a kid while winning on the biggest stage" kind of fun. Then, the indecision. The 2 and a half year (is that correct? Wow!) indecision. He stinks it up in LA. Well, forget the fact that he was playing next to one of the most selfish players of all time and could hardly walk during the off season. Forget the fact that everyone PREDICTED that he was going to have an OFF year. Forget that. ESPN and everyone else thought it would be a better story than "well, it's to be expected." Now, he will be in Houston. Well, guess how this story works out? He is far more mature. He has learned a lot about the NBA, expectations, what they mean and the difference between demanding greatness and finding a support group to get you there. He now is playing with another (few?) up and coming player (s?). This is HIS chance. Sure, this still may very well be Harden's team. But, this is HIS chance. Boy, Harden sure dodged a bullet! He will probably never have to go through this "NBA's Darling" BS. He was third fiddle in OKC, became the up and coming SUPER star for one year and now before ESPN gets their hands on him, he will win a CHAMPIONSHIP and eliminate the whole BS process of what it takes to be an NBA legend. Now Durant, starts off loved by the league and this year he was already receiving criticism. Will OKC be better next year without Harden downgrading to KMart and KMart downgrading into... Lamb? Wow, the WEST sure looks scary at the top too. Have you seen OKC's competition? I thought OKC had a HUGE window for a championship. Funny how a couple roster moves can change it all. Not that the likes of Memphis or GSW SHOULD win against them, but it sure does do a lot on the body trying to get past these guys AND THEN playing the other teams above them. That window, it's still there, but it's less likely this year and maybe even less moving forward than it was 2 years ago. Uh oh, that's a recipe for the likes of ESPN to put labels on Durant and the sheep to follow. What will happen next? Sorry for the long post.
Dr of Dunk I was about to post the same. One should be mindful that SAS is on the DH train because he knows that when DH succeeds in Houston, SAS will be positioned to be the one with the most access to DH thanks to building his trust now. There is a very real possibility that DH knew what questions were coming. HOWEVER, unlike professional actors, one can sense when sportsmen provide honest answers and I believe that regardless of the above, he was genuine in his answers and I love him on our team all the more for it. While I do not like SAS that much, he will at least give a Pro-Houston voice on BSPN which is nice.
Older SAS interview w/ D12: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Af1-llkfy44" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I don't think he's looked like the "bad" guy in all of this; well besides Los Angeles fans. I think league-wide he's looked the good guy, cause Houston is recognized as the young up &coming team, and he made the "right" choice according to the general perception of fans. He didn't call in an ESPN show, have a celebration, and call for multiple championships. He did it quietly, he took it passively, it was front page news and he channeled it softly. He'll get respect for that. Only people, or names, giving him fits are affiliated with Los Angeles, that's the common theme. Houston @ LA will be a pandamonium. As for Durant, no doubt. But what comes first; poor management being viewed(i.e Harden trade for eventually Lamb & Steven Adams) or big city lights? Durant has given OKC their fairshake, they've just regressed these past two seasons due to poor roster management. Unless something out of the blue happens(which is possible), this team isn't going to win a championship in the next 2-3 years. He won't be wrong for seeking brighter lights, but not for JUST the galore but also the deeper pockets and management structure. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc. don't have "better" management-- Presti knows his stuff-- they just have deeper pockets and more attractive assets. So for Durant, the big city allure is there but the big city allure to collectively get more talent is more present(much like Deron in Utah, and Deron was going to leave cause he saw this happening). Durant is in a similar situation, but worse, he's tasted what he wants(NBA Finals appearance) and it's just downhill from there.
Thank you for the comment. I wasn't referring to Dwight's 2013 off season. I meant the whole last two years or so. If you were to take a poll of the whole Dwight situation, he was becoming very hated.
