ESPN: You have a reputation of being a little thin-skinned. How hard is it for you not to be affected by what people say about you?
Howard: "It bothers me when I hear certain things. Like when people call me a 'cancer.' I know I'm not that person. I want my team to be close. I'm pushing for my team to be together. When I was in Orlando and we went to the Finals (in 2009), we had so much chemistry. We were always together. When I got to L.A. (with the Lakers in 2012), they told me, 'You don't need team chemistry. You just need to be able to play basketball together.' So which is it? It's confusing.''
Quote:
ESPN: Kobe said he wasn't sure winning was your top priority. Why would he say that?
Howard: "I wanted Kobe and me to work. I just think we were at two different points of our careers. When I went there, people warned me, 'Dwight, you gotta realize Kobe still wants to be the star.' My response was, 'Fine.' I said the same thing to Steve [Nash]. I wanted to learn from those guys. I wasn't trying to outshine them.''
Quote:
ESPN: Kobe also questioned your toughness when he urged you to come back and play through your shoulder injury.
Howard: "Kobe put some pressure on me. He said something like, 'We don't have time for Dwight to be hurt.' The media is asking me, 'Did you talk to Kobe about your injuries?' I said, 'I didn't realize I was supposed to check with another player about my health.' When I first got there, I said to Kobe in front of the whole team, 'The only way we win is if we put our egos aside and play together.' I wanted to play with him. I don't know if he didn't want to play with me -- if he felt I wasn't a killer like him.''
Quote:
ESPN: You could have signed a new deal to stay with the Lakers. Why didn't you?
Howard: "I just felt like it wasn't a team. I wanted a team. There were things that went on during the season that made me feel like I wasn't a part of it, like the thing with Kobe and my shoulder. People were saying, 'Dwight's so strong, he's Superman, he should play through it.' It was a torn labrum. I should have had surgery, but I didn't. I came back instead. I'll never forget the game we played against the Celtics in Boston (on Feb. 7, 2013). I hadn't practiced for a while -- I had just been working on the treadmill. But I played in Boston. We got blown out. Coach (Mike D'Antoni) still had me in when we were down 30. After the game, I'm walking off the court and a Lakers fan throws his jersey and hits me in the face. It was my name on that jersey. I will never forget that the rest of my life."
Quote:
ESPN: The Lakers were a major disappointment that season, but the front office still wanted you back?
Howard: "Yes, they did. I had a decent year. I put up good numbers. Mitch [Kupchak] wanted me to stay. Jeanie [Buss] wanted me to stay. But I didn't think it was a good fit. When they fired Mike Brown (after five games), they asked me what coach I wanted. I said, 'Phil [Jackson].' They said, 'Well, we don't know about Phil.' So they went out and got D'Antoni, and I'm thinking, 'Well I guess what I say doesn't matter.' That was one thing. The other was when I got ejected from our last game. Kobe was out (with a torn Achilles) by then. As I walked out to the back to the locker room, Kobe was walking in. People turned that into some kind of statement from Kobe, like he was saying, 'He may be gone, but I'm coming back.' Kobe and I never fought. But I didn't like hearing that I was running away from the 'bright lights.' I knew what it meant to play for the Lakers and I wasn't afraid of it. But I was a free agent and I was looking at Houston, who had James, and, at that time Chandler [Parsons] and Jeremy [Lin] and I thought, 'This might be better for me.''
Quote:
ESPN: One of the other criticisms of your game is you never expanded your range beyond the key. Why not?
Howard: "I used to shoot 1,000 shots a day. I called Kobe when I was still playing in Orlando and asked him what I should do. He's the one who told me to do take 1,000 a day. So I'd practice and practice them but then I'd be so afraid to take them in a game because I was so worried I would miss. I hate messing up. I hate failure. I was just talking to (WNBA) star Tina Thompson the other day about it. I told her about my fear of missing and she said, 'Dwight, you're gonna miss. Everyone does.' But I want to be perfect.''
Quote:
ESPN: So you don't take perimeter jumpers because you are afraid you will miss them?
Howard: "I don't like messing up. I didn't want to turn on the TV and see people say, 'Dwight is taking all those outside shots, he's screwing around, he doesn't care, he doesn't want to win.' So that's the war I'll be having in my head. I'm working on it. I have a sports psychologist I used in Houston and I have one in Minnesota. If my spiritual and mental game is right, the physical part will follow.''
He just keeps on digging the hole he's in deeper and deeper by what he says.
The time he talks about how when he got ejected and Kobe walked in the arena around the same time and "people" (aka media/fans) were saying it was almost like Kobe saying, "He's leaving, but I'm coming back." If he truly let that get to him as far as why he didn't re-sign.. he's an even bigger idiot than I thought.
Then the answer as to why he doesn't shoot jumpers because he doesn't want to miss. The guy is just a giant vagina. There's just no other way to put it.
This clown doesn't deserve a thread in the Lakers Lounge. _________________ Nobody in the NBA can touch the Laker brand, which, like the uniform color, is pure gold.
Still talking about this? Dwight Howard is a pansy (bleep). Always will be. Kobe has fault in a lot of the stupid (bleep) he did but he gets the benefit of the doubt because he brought results. And results is all that matters in life. _________________ Because we're better than you!
Damn... it almost makes me feel bad for the guy... almost
Honestly though, I'm inclined to believe every one of those responses. Seems pretty genuine.
I don't feel one bit of sorrow for this selfish, egocentric, time-wasting diva. The Lakers traded away valuable assets to get him and in return he betrays the organization and fanbase. Let him wallow throughout the rest of his career, playing for child support payments(8 kids and counting/5 different women) and never winning a championship.
But I played in Boston. We got blown out. Coach (Mike D'Antoni) still had me in when we were down 30. After the game, I'm walking off the court and a Lakers fan throws his jersey and hits me in the face. It was my name on that jersey. I will never forget that the rest of my life."
That fan should get his own Appreciation Night at Staples.
Quote:
When I first got there, I said to Kobe in front of the whole team, 'The only way we win is if we put our egos aside and play together.'
Would have loved to have seen Kobe's face as Dwight was explaining to him how to win.
Quote:
"I used to shoot 1,000 shots a day. I called Kobe when I was still playing in Orlando and asked him what I should do. He's the one who told me to do take 1,000 a day. So I'd practice and practice them but then I'd be so afraid to take them in a game because I was so worried I would miss. I hate messing up. I hate failure.
Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 2500 Location: Inland Empire
Posted: Thu May 19, 2016 8:28 am Post subject:
Damn, that guy who threw the Dwight jersey deserves a tryout with the Lakers just on principle! LOL
He passes and shoots better than Coward.
Bye. _________________ "This trophy removes the most odious sentence in the English Language. It can never be said again that 'the Lakers have never beaten the Celtics.'" -Dr. Jerry Buss (1985) R.I.P., 33 x M.V.O.
Posted: Thu May 19, 2016 8:31 am Post subject: Re: Dwight Howard Truehoop Interview (2016 Off-season)
cmonkee wrote:
Quote:
ESPN: One of the other criticisms of your game is you never expanded your range beyond the key. Why not?
Howard: "I used to shoot 1,000 shots a day. I called Kobe when I was still playing in Orlando and asked him what I should do. He's the one who told me to do take 1,000 a day. So I'd practice and practice them but then I'd be so afraid to take them in a game because I was so worried I would miss. I hate messing up. I hate failure. I was just talking to (WNBA) star Tina Thompson the other day about it. I told her about my fear of missing and she said, 'Dwight, you're gonna miss. Everyone does.' But I want to be perfect.''
Quote:
ESPN: So you don't take perimeter jumpers because you are afraid you will miss them?
Howard: "I don't like messing up. I didn't want to turn on the TV and see people say, 'Dwight is taking all those outside shots, he's screwing around, he doesn't care, he doesn't want to win.' So that's the war I'll be having in my head. I'm working on it. I have a sports psychologist I used in Houston and I have one in Minnesota. If my spiritual and mental game is right, the physical part will follow.''
Pathetic mentality. Figures. I guess the nickname Dwight Coward really does fit.
Change "Kobe" to "Harden" or "Stan Van Gundy" and his responses still sound eerily familiar. _________________ Eighth grade key phrases are crucial tools for this type of subterfuge: "team player", "make teammates better", "ballhog", "selfish", "court vision": all dripping with sanctimony and defamation.
Quote:
ESPN: So you don't take perimeter jumpers because you are afraid you will miss them?
Howard: "I don't like messing up. I didn't want to turn on the TV and see people say, 'Dwight is taking all those outside shots, he's screwing around, he doesn't care, he doesn't want to win.' So that's the war I'll be having in my head. I'm working on it. I have a sports psychologist I used in Houston and I have one in Minnesota. If my spiritual and mental game is right, the physical part will follow.''
Wow what a mental midget. Cringe-worthy stuff Dwight.
. Dwight Howard was asked to elaborate on why he felt "disinterested" during parts of his season with the Houston Rockets.
"There were times I was disinterested because of situations that happened behind the scenes that really hurt me," said Howard. "It left me thinking, 'This is not what I signed up for.'''
Howard was asked to specify what he was referring to.
"I felt like my role was being reduced. I went to [Rockets general manager] Daryl [Morey] and said, 'I want to be more involved.' Daryl said, 'No, we don't want you to be.' My response was, 'Why not? Why am I here?' It was shocking to me that it came from him instead of our coach. So I said to him, 'No disrespect to what you do, but you've never played the game. I've been in this game a long time. I know what it takes to be effective.'''
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