http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/...akers-attempting-woo-dwight-howard-billboards sorry if already posted...man that vid reminds me of how much i hate laker fans...just the sheer arrogance, if dwight bounces, theyre in for a long winter
All the haters of Royce white who said his bad person for getting girls knocked up, we should not sign him, have a look at dwight ? Dwight Howard Might Have 8 Children With 8 Different Women http://withleather.uproxx.com/2013/06/dwight-howard-might-have-8-children-with-8-different-women
gonna be a villain there if he leaves now. beltran-style. kind of a dick move. he ain't gonna stay just because they slapped together some billboards.
3 years of dwight drama people are getting sick of his act he is a drama queen he wants to be the star of the team
If the Clippers do indeed decide to formally offer Griffin and Bledsoe in a sign-and-trade package for Howard, indications are that it's a proposal the Lakers will certainly not dismiss outright. Like I will certainly not dismiss an proposal to get paid $1M for doing nothing outright.
LA fans aren't gonna care. They think they isht don't stink and if he leaves, they'll simply say "eff him....we're LA" and move on to the next fad name. Hes's a UFA.....if he leaves...he leaves....he isn't forcing a trade or badmouthing teammates or crying his way out of town. He holds the cards.....opportunistic, fair-weather fans are more understanding than the die-hards. LA residents AND fans are FAR from die-hards. Trust.
there are several people here in LA who are perfectly fine with dwight leaving - they are tired of his "antics" ok - there is no denying he has "diva-ish" tendencies BUT there is also no denying his talent and his impact on the basketball court. Lakers fans dont realize he rush backed from a very serious surgery and played hurt throughout the season. He never got the same "he is a warrior" talk that kobe gets all the time - he was slammed for not playing enough. -- the ironic thing is that the guy they would have kept didnt end up playing the entire YEAR and Dwight did play more than a lions share of games. the dude was crucified unnecessarily - the same was Gasol is all the time -- all the blame goes to everyone else BUT Kobe - despite whatever Kobe does. I am not saying the fault is always Kobe's but he gets a far greater free pass from the local team than any other player I've seen. Gasol being a 2nd tier star can handle it - but Dwight is one of the few superstars in the league and will not be treated like that - he is used to being pampered and given credit and I can't remember an exact number - but listening to sports radio here day in and out - he rarely was given credit even when he was due it. if dwight leaves the lakers it will be for that - with kobe saying he may still play another 3-4 seasons -- it will always be Kobe's town and Kobe can do NO wrong --- Dwight could lead the lakers to finals and kobe do nothing and if he messes up one game they'll burn him alive. he is too good of a player to be subjected to that - and also has too fragile of an ego as well. Houston would treat him better - Harden would look to him - he would be the veteran superstar still in his prime in the locker room. it would be similar to how shaq and kobe worked (i would think)-- shaq would carry the team through the first 3 quarters and then kobe would help close it out. i dont see any superstar in LA until Kobe leaves -- a real superstar - 2nd/3rd tier all-star like Gasol sure - but superstars demand and used to better treatment
The Lakers improvement at the end of the year was almost all Dwight's physical improvement, Kobe's 48 mpg didn't improve their offense, it stayed at best stagnant, and whilst playing that long made his defensive laziness even worse the lakers defense was actually improving due to Dwight, better defense combined with same offense = more wins. That basically all credit was being given to Kobe while Dwight was only being criticised was one of the purest media campaigns I've seen, it was as though they were literally trying to look the other way at every opportunity. And the worst part is, at least for them is that they don't get it, they literally don't get it at all.
Thanks for the Laker perspective. I bolded a couple of things in your comments that I found interesting. 1) The dude was crucified unnecessarily This is not something that is specific to the Lakers or Howard. I noticed since joining CF that there are certain groups of basketball fans that like to hate on players... for the most part unnecessarily. Not sure if it's an immaturity thing or an Internet thing or what, but it's certainly there and Dwight can expect the same unwarranted hate from certain segments when he comes to Houston. 2) Houston would treat him better - Harden would look to him - he would be the veteran superstar still in his prime in the locker room. Well, I'm not sure Harden would look to him. For me, I'd like Dwight to be a leader on this team as he would be the most experienced and best player but I think James wants to be the Alpha dog. There is a possibility of some conflict but I think Dwight doesn't mind giving the alpha dog position to James as long as he's respected his team mates and coaches.
clippers still over cap...they still stuck with DJ...thus it aint happening! Stern ruined it for the Clippers with the Rivers/Garnett fiasco
Can someone please tell me if Asik will stay in such instance we sign D12 to a contract? And if he does stay, would Asik be the backup center or would he be the starting PF? Having Howard and Asik as your starting frontline would be very, very interesting!
...this is a clever strategy by the Lakers. The bilboard is a strategic move because they know psychologically Dwight wants everyone to like him and when you make it a city wide or even national campaign, it appeal's to Dwight's sense of acceptance. Dwight probably doesn't care about disappointing Kobe or Laker's management...but if they make this more about Dwight disappointing ALL the Lakers fans or the ENTIRE state of California - THAT is something that Dwight will think twice about - especially if he wants to make that his future home. The scary thing is it just might work on him I mean they can still offer more money than anyone else. I'm sure the Lakers are framing this like, "if you want to walk away from more fans you would get with any other franchise and you want to walk away from millions too, then leave for Houston". If Dwight's people are smart though(so far they have proven they are not), they would point out that Dwight is aligned to be the scapegoat for all of LA's problems regardless of whether they were his fault. As it stands, this could be a very bad team early next year and Dwight would be public enemy #1 while Kobe heals, Nash limps along, Artest gets slower, they continue to get outcoached, and the rest of the team(minus Gasol) bring nothing to table.
He doesn't owe the Lakers and LA anything. He was traded there. He didn't sign there. Lakers took the chance simply bc they are full of themselves and think how could anyone leave us? It's gonna finally bite them in the ass and i love it. **** LA!
You haven't been following the debates on Clutchfans recently, have you? I've always supported the Twin Towers concept of playing Dwight at his original position at the 4 with Asik at the 5 (with staggered minutes for most of the game)... Lin Harden Parsons Howard Asik However, I was in the minority on Clutchfans. Seems most people here think this wouldn't work offensively. They would rather trade Asik for Josh Smith.
