There was a time when Dwight Howard was one of the most sought-after free agents in the NBA, & could command max contracts along the way. That time however, is long gone.
In the latest installment of the Dwight Howard soap opera chronicles, ESPN NBA insider Zach Lowe details how the Hawks felt when they lost Howard in a June trade to the Charlotte Hornets:
Speaking on his podcast, ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe (h/t Dime Magazine‘s Jamie Cooper) said he had been told stories of “Hawks players learning about the trade and screaming with jubilation into their phones.” Lowe added some Hawks players had grown irritated with Howard.
That may seem surprising considering Atlanta is Howard’s hometown team, & he had hoped to bring them back to respectability. When asked why Howard’s teammates weren’t feeling him, here’s how Lowe responded:
“You ask why, and one account was that Dwight would give these speeches before the game about how everyone is playing hard, we want unity, we’re going to… and then go out and play like a blah game where he demands post touches and doesn’t rotate as hard as he could. And everyone is like, ‘Why are you speaking in the locker room?’ But that’s all anecdotal. It’s just crazy how these stories come out after every stop in his career.”
Being a vocal leader, while loafing on the court & staying in the news off of it, while offering absolutely ZERO resistance to Cleveland, the only championship contender in the conference last season is definitely a good way to lose team morale.