Too many times in society we tend to place athletes on pedastools and bestow upon them the responsibilities that they aren’t worthy of. Using them as role models and sources of inspiration have got to stop. Over the past two to three weeks, all I’ve been able to digest is the talk of the recent struggles of Los Angeles’ other team (Lakers).
Either someone’s talking about how there’s no team chemistry, injuries to key players, Mike D’Antoni’s coaching or lack thereof, the horrible play of Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant’s ball dominance, or the trade status of Dwight Howard. I have the answer to that 20 million dollar question. Should the Lakers trade Dwight Howard? They couldn’t give this guy away on a silver platter! First of all, with his recent immature acts of selfishness and complaining, he’s scared off the handful of teams willing to take him off the Lakers hands.
Courtesy: NY Daily News
Even if the Lakers were up to dealing Howard, other teams have to look at the fact that he’s not willing to sign an extension with them. So you give up vital pieces of your franchise to attain his services, you don’t win the title and he signs elsewhere in the off season. You lose BIG TIME! Add to that the fact that this guy has the stones to point out to a teammate that Kobe Bryant is taking more shots than he is. Are you kidding me? Kobe Bryant is his measuring stick? The fourth all-time leading scorer in NBA history, a five time world champion, 2 time Olympic gold medalist, 2 time NBA Finals MVP, 10 time first team All NBA selection (I could go on for days with Bryants accolades but I won’t because I want to dump on this overrated moron for a bit longer).
Here’s a guy that can’t sink a meaningful free throw to save his life, yet he has the audacity to say that his free throw shooting isn’t the reason the Lakers have lost some games this season. This is the same guy who as a member of the Orlando Magic, requested a trade saying that “he wants to join a team that would allow him to be man.” Are you serious? During his tenure in Orlando, who was more relevant than Howard? J.J. Redick, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, Gortat, Turkoglu? He then proceeded to have the organization fire Stan Van Gundy, only to force himself out of Orlando and cost the franchise valuable players in the process.
If Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss want to save the Lakers, their first order of business should be to let Dwight Howard leave via free agency. The Lakers were never his first team of choice when making out his wish list. In fact, they were a distant third behind the Nets and Mavericks. Although I still believe that D’Antoni has to go, because his system simply doesn’t work for the Lakers personnel, that team has to undergo a small cosmetic change.
Letting Howard walk this summer and looking into some other options at center like maybe Javale McGee, Marcin Gortat, Demarcus Cousins, Kris Humphries (he can play center in the western conference), or Andrea Bargnani. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my years of studying the business side of the NBA is that no one is untradeable, unless their contract contains a no trade clause (Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, and Tim Duncan).
