The Summer of 2013 Dwight Howard Circus

Lol:

"If only Dwight Howard took this long to decide on wearing a rubber."

(he has like five children with five different beautiful women)

 

Sports Illustrated:

After a long, hectic day full of reports, counter-reports, denials, twists, and turns, unrestricted free agent center Dwight Howard, the No. 1 player in the class of 2013, has decided to leave the Lakers and sign with the Rockets.
...
After years of coming off flaky and immature ... the whole NBA world was watching and waiting eagerly for his decision. This was a rare opportunity for Howard to totally own the message.
So much for that. Instead of delivering a clear choice with a thorough explanation of his reasoning, Howard’s decision to join the Rockets came out on Twitter, where it was immediately flooded with conflicting information, much of it provided by his agent. In the chaos, which took hours to resolve and could have been put to bed with a single Twitter message from Howard himself, all of those same old negative perceptions of Howard were allowed to flourish. The world groaned together when he reportedly waffled on Friday night, before telling Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak in person that he was headed out of town. ... the last few years appear to have taught him nothing

...

As frustrating as Howard can be, ... life without him and without anything meaningful in return for him is worse than life with him. Howard’s departure puts L.A. in a very tough position, at least for next season. Even with Bryant, Gasol and Steve Nash fully healthy, the Lakers simply don’t have the depth of talent or salary cap means to make themselves major players in the ever-competitive Western Conference.

 

Alex Kennedy (USA Today)
6m
Dwight Howard said he has talked to James Harden a lot. "We've been talking about winning championships."
---------
Not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4...

 

Some comments from NBA fans:

-I am going to miss the dwightmare. I know a majority of us probably do not like howard and his whole debacle the last 2 years but it has been unbelievably entertaining. ... I know many posters hate the whole superstar free agency circus but as a unbiased fan (of the lowly raptors) its funny seeing all the hoopla and extreme amount sources tied to this decision. ... well now we have to say goodbye to one of the most entertaining debacles in recent memory.

-At last, the Dwightmare has been put to rest. Now the world is a better place to live in...

-Dwightmare never ends. Next summer he will be asking for McHale's head, or complaining about lack of touches.

-today was really exciting

-This is just the beginning.

-the pure entertainment value has been great

-Next chapter will be to hold the rockets franchise hostage, and ask for a trade.

-It's not over yet.

-without Dwightmare we'd be bored as **** the past week

-Dwight's saga isn't over

-NICE WE BACK BABY dwight is now 50/50 between LA and Houston

 

The big buzz now is how once Dwight finally announced his decision on twitter, Kobe immediately unfollowed him then posted a pic of him and Gasol leaning against each other (Gasol has his arm on Kobe) with the caption:
"#vamos, #juntos, #lakercorazon, #vino" ... meaning "we go on together with the heart of a Laker, signed Kobe"

Reports were that when the Lakers had their meetings with Dwight to convince him to stay, Kobe was talking down to him saying stuff like "i'm the one that knows how to be a champion, you stick with me, and you'll learn," etc. of course, sources close to Dwight said that approach was a big turn-off to Dwight

 

Like one media outlet wrote: " Their 2013-14 NBA season match-up will definitely be headline worthy."

 

Dwight during his phone interview he just did with USA Today's Alex Kennedy:

How tough have these two years and all of this drama been on you?

"Seeing all of the stuff on the internet. Seeing stuff that the reporters are saying ... It hurt a lot. It really hurt a lot. But the only thing now is to move forward."

Was it tough walking away from a franchise like the Lakers? They really haven’t lost a marquee free agent before.

“Very tough. Very, very, very tough. Very, very tough. ... I was walking away from six million fans. I was walking away from a storied franchise. All of that makes it tough and it makes it a really, really big risk. ... But now, I’m doing what’s best for Dwight. ...The best decision for me was to do what’s best for Dwight. ... This is what Dwight wanted.”

Why did you select the Rockets over the other four teams you met with?

“I felt that James (Harden) and I would really have an opportunity to grow together. I felt like having a coach like Kevin McHale and having Hakeem Olajuwon, who’s in Houston, can really help me grow as a player – help me as a post player and help my overall game"

How excited are you to play with James Harden
in Houston?

"We’ve been talking about winning championships.”

 

TF, I mean this in good conscience, you really need to find less electronic outlets. With all of the sport research you do, you should research the effects of screen time, constant checking of texts/emails/internet, etc on the human brain. Its not bad to have some down time and let your brain relax, bro.

 

reading and writing doesn't rot your brain. it's much better than watching tv, playing video games, etc.

Before i got a smart phone, i used to carry a book and a pen on me, especially when talking a relaxing walk in the park. With the smart phone, it's like carrying a billion books and a billion notepads in my pocket.

And just because i carry a book on me doesn't mean I'm reading it the whole time. Say I'm walking in the park with a book and a pen, most of the time I'm not reading or writing, but reflecting on what i read or thinking about something else entirely. But, at the end of the walk i still got a good bit or reading done with notes and underlines.

Same with the smart phone. Just be because i end up with 20 windows open in my browser, including 6 or 7 discussion boards doesn't mean i treat it any different than having a book on me at the park.

For ex, now I'm sitting on my porch enjoying the beautiful cool weather, the gentle breeze on my skin, the exotic song of the birds, the clouds in the sky that look like a Monet painting, etc. But i don't mind supplementing that with reading and writing.

As for sports, again, it's an epic drama just like great movies or works of literature. Reading about history and religion is more interesting, but nobody i know cares about that