First things first, Dwight Howard isn’t LeBron James.
Their situations aren’t that similar and LeBron handle his situation with a lot more professionalism and class (minus The Decision). LeBron made one clear decision and moved on, Howard is on his third franchise in so many years because of his inability to make a decision.
But, here is what Dwight had to say about being a villain.
“Last year, I felt like I was the villain,” Howard told Yahoo Sports. “Now, I feel like I’m an even bigger villain.”
“He got hated for a lot of reasons,” Howard told Yahoo. “I was really, really happy when LeBron finally won.
“I knew exactly how he felt. People putting you down, saying bad things about your character, who you are as a person. It doesn’t sit well with you. When you go out on the court, you want to show them, ‘Hey, this isn’t who I am.’
“Me and LeBron, especially dealt with that,” Howard told Yahoo. “Chris [Paul] didn’t get as much as attention as me and LeBron. Every day, people want to know where we’re going. Last year, the year before, it was every day: ‘Come play here. Come here. Where are you going?’ I dealt with that for a whole season.
Luckily for Howard he has James Harden to lean on, the true franchise player of the Rockets. Right now, everyone in the NBA is just talking, but you have to show and prove on the court.
No one sees Howard as a villain, just more of a clownish figure, but we will see if he is really happy in Houston or will we be dealing with the same issues he had in Orlando and LA when times get tough.