Yes, what is funny about the whole situation is LA Lakers are not going to win a championship for at least 6-10 years.
Or maybe they (LFs) have come to realize that he just isn't what they thought he was - someone mentally tough and reliable (e.g. Kobe). While Harden has areas of his game that need improvement, you can generally depend on him in the clutch. You can also depend that James isn't going to flake out on you and cause turmoil. With DH it's essentially the opposite - and DH will be making at least $5,000,000.00 more per year. We have so many options. I'd rather go a different direction.
LA fans are pinning this year's debacle on three people: Howard, D'Antoni, and Jim Buss. And since they're stuck with DA and Buss, I think they've started to think that if Howard will just leave, things will magically get better. The fans out here in La-La Land are so used to winning, they don't truly get how difficult it is to rebuild.
I'm a Lakers fan, and most of us are unconcerned, because Dwight is not as good as he is portrayed in the media. He has 1 post move, he can't shoot FT's, he commits dumb fouls, and he is a liability in crunch time. His name alone will get him a max contract, but on the court, he doesn't deserve it.
Seriously, the handwriting is on the wall. When's the last time a marquee free agent left a city high and dry and the fanbase collectively cried? The initial reaction is going to be one of anger and arrogance. It's human nature. Just look at Dan Gilbert's reaction and "promise" about LeBron. Laker fans were nervous a month ago. Now, they're angry. Just let them be and don't expect objective analysis.
Oh we know. We know all of that. But he still led an Orlando team to the Finals. And he's still far and away the best center in the NBA.
I sadly agree with a Laker fan lol I don't want that bum on my Rockets and I rather keep T-Rob. Dwight Howard is a Cancer to any team.
This...and as some LA stations have mentioned...This is a player in his prime that is leaving the storied "Lakers" if that isnt unnerving...then what is... LBJ left a weak Cavs team with a weak NBA history...It is if Rondo just up and left the Celtics...
I'm old enough to remember the threat of Hakeem departing. It was a legit concern. I wasn't happy about it. I wasn't ambivalent. I didn't want him to leave. I felt like his biggest fan. I just don't see the same displeasure from Laker fans (as noted above). Perhaps we should just take Laker fans at their word - DH is over-rated.
one thing the ESPN people from LA say is the there not trying hard enough to bring back Howard where as Houston and Harden are doing EVERYTHING to try to get him here as well as Parsons
Because Hakeem leaving wasn't about basketball. It was about a legacy. Everyone understood Hakeem was way, way beyond his prime and just playing out the string. He was the greatest athlete in this city's history and he deserved to retire a Rocket. It hurt. And it wasn't about the next year's wins and losses on the basketball floor, because Hakeem didn't mean that much in that facet. It was the personal connection. It made us sad, more than anything. With Dwight, there is no personal connection. He's been there for one injury-plagued year in which the team massively underachieved expectations. He's in the prime of his career, and he's leaving them. He's making them a significantly worse basketball team AND they feel no sense of personal connection. That's a recipe for irrational anger.
Gasol wants to stay in LA and he knows his best chance (but not a given) is for Dwight to leave, and Kobe is too prideful to beg anyone to stay.
Huh? He threatened to leave the season before winning two championships. He was one of the top two players in the league.
Oh, I thought you were talking about the Toronto episode. Even if you're talking about the 1992 incident, the guy was already a Houston legend. Eight years with the Rockets and several more at UH. Dwight had one season in LA, coming off major back surgery, and the team as a whole massively underachieved expectations. If you can't see the difference in the emotional connections and the inherent irrationality that comes with it, you're blind. Dwight's had a long and wildly successful NBA career. To judge him by one season in which he was coming off a serious surgery (one that notoriously takes two years to recover from) and in a system completely unsuited for his talent is silly. That said, I understand why angry Lakers fans would do it, because they're looking for a reason to be upset and it's all they have. We're better than that.
