The center's season ended, as doctors concluded that surgery for a herniated disc was necessary for the Orlando Magic star center. He underwent the knife shortly thereafter, ruling Howard out for any postseason play, as well as the Summer Olympics in London, where he surely would have held down the starting 5 slot.
The chatter all season long had been if Dwight was going to
stay in Orlando, with a player option for the 2012-2013 season being at his
disposal to either exercise, or decline. The choice was his to either stay in
Orlando and sign a long-term extension, leave the Magic for a bigger market team
closer to winning a title, and of course, to expand his off-court
opportunities, or "brand" if you will. Ultimately, Dwight decided to waive
his option to become a free agent this summer, citing that the team's success
this season against the best teams in the league in recent months had
emboldened him to the point where he thought this current squad might be able
to, or was close to winning a NBA title.
Now, without the possibility of the Magic going far into the
postseason bracket, we're left with the same question that so closely tailed
Orlando and Howard all season long - will the team deal Howard before he leaves
them for nothing? Not a month after we thought it was over, Dwight Howard's Decision,
or Indecision, has been ignited anew. This is the South Beach Theory.
It's Thursday morning, March 15th. The brand-new Amway
Center arena, literally still shining as the plastic was ripped from its panels
only months earlier, is packed to the brim with reporters, writers and Orlando
Magic personnel. They wait patiently, laptops fired up and recorders ready to
go, as a man resembling a gigantic, though all-too mortal version of Atlas
steps to the microphone, ready to resolve a months -long black hole whose
gravitational pull has taken down every team in the NBA down with it.
Dwight Howard is dressed in a striped blue and white polo
shirt, with an eye-searing pink ringing around the ends of his sleeves and
hanging around his neck, like a Perez Hilton-inspired noose. He looks like a 8
year-old boy, whose mother dressed him in a nice outfit for a big occasion. An
incredibly fitting choice, considering Dwight's demeanor that day.
As he sits down in front of these two dozen strangers, Howard
looks so worn, beaten and demoralized, that even a sheepish 8 year-old would
sit with more poise. Slouched over on the table in front of him, Dwight's
massive shoulders that typically look like they could hold the weight of the
world, were drawn down towards it under the pressures of a mere city. Regardless
of what his body language would convey, Howard tried to portray the jovial,
gentle giant persona that he had created and cultivated over the past several
years, joking with GM Otis Smith and laughing at statements that quite frankly,
weren't funny 12 hours earlier. But the tone of his voice and the sincerity he
lacked seemed more reminiscent of a child being forced by a parent to make a public
apology, rather than a man in front of his peers giving a definitive stance of
conviction. Dwight Howard had decided to stay in Orlando for at least another
year.
All the while, I watched this press conference, thinking
that for months, all we wanted was for Dwight to stand up, take a stance and
stick with it. And what we got was so far from a satisfactory result. It felt
hauntingly familiar to when we heard the words "I'll be taking my talents
to South Beach", except without the resolve, if you can imagine that. It's
as if Dwight examined LeBron's journey to being one of the biggest sports
villains in recent memory, and found ways to amplify it. That's what we're
witnessing right now. LeBron's decision as the pervading question following him
lasted from May 2010 to July 2010. That's less than 2 months. We're on month 5
with Dwight. With no end in sight.
______________________________
All-too appropriately, Dwight's back gave out from all the
on-court abuse and stress he took as the best player on his team this year, leading
to Orlando again wondering if Howard would leave small-town central Florida for
a bigger market in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas or Chicago.
Dwight knows how much more he has to gain playing in any of
those cities. While his endorsement deals are 10-figures long and his
commercials plastered all over the television and internet, the type of
coverage that he'd get from moving to a gigantic TV market like LA, NYC,
Chi-town or Dallas is an immeasurable improvement over that of Orlando. While
his visibility is incredibly high as a cartoon-like physical specimen who
dominates the court so explosively and noticeably, moving to a large market would
intensify that like putting a stereo to a megaphone. Does Howard want to move
because winning is easier in a large market? Hell yes. Is it always easier? No,
it's not. But looking at how close the Knicks, Lakers, Clippers and Bulls are
to a title, and how Dallas won last year, it's hard to say that being in the
big city doesn't have its benefits. It's easier to attract players no matter
what their stature, and role players will take cut-rate salaries not only to
play with the superstars, but to improve the quality of their off-the-court
lives. Dwight wants to improve his brand, just like LeBron did before him, and
Shaquille before him, not just by winning, but winning in a place where the
echo of falling confetti reverberates the loudest.
So why is it that after all their maneuvering, manipulation
and, ironically, indecision, do these guys seem to immeasurably damage their
brands in trying to improve them? Why is it that after making their big move,
or perhaps not yet in Dwight's case, do they come out of the fray with such
devalued images that they strangely seem to be so concerned with augmenting in
the first place? How could they not realize how much they are tearing down
while in he act of building back up?
______________________________
Dwight is the best defensive center in the league. That's
not even a question. Even those of you bleeding orange and blue can't look me
in the eye and say that you wouldn't trade Tyson Chandler for Dwight Howard,
straight up. Of course you would. Don't be silly. So how come we left him offof our 1st AND 2nd team All-Defensive squad last week? How is Dwight not the
frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year? Hell, why am I hearing anyone
other than Dwight's name for 1st Team All-NBA? The guy continues to be the
undisputed best center in the league. Not enough? Check this example out.
LeBron James is the best basketball player in the world.
Even as the most pathetic Lakers apologist, I can't say anything to the
contrary. He is the best in the league, without peer. He's had one of the
greatest statistical seasons of ALL TIME. James is averaging 27/8/6, while
shooting 53% from the field, 36% from the 3-point line and 77% from the stripe.
Just to top it off, he's got two steals and nearly a block per game and committing
only 1.6 fouls a contest while playing some of the most spectacular lock-down
perimeter defense in the league. Only Michael Jordan's unreal 1989 season
surpasses, or even rivals LeBron's greatness right now.
And yet...there's a DEBATE about who's the MVP? We're
staring in the face of one of the most spectacular performances a human's ever
had on a professional basketball court and we're wondering if that guy is the
most valuable player in the league? We try not to curse too much on the
ever-classy MAMBINO ship, but are you FUCKING kidding me? Kevin Durant is a
great player, and is having a fine, fine season for the best team in the
Western Conference. But there is no way that he is more valuable to Oklahoma
City than LeBron is to a Heat team who's fourth best player is Mario Chalmers
and sixth best player is Rony Turiaf.
Why is this happening? Why is there a debate? LeBron and
Dwight are two of the top 10 best players in the league today. Why are we
discrediting their achievements so much? Are people getting tired of voting for
the same guys? Are people becoming jaded to the amazing because that has become
the norm?
In trying to improve their brands, both men have forgotten what the core tenant
for doing so is. Yes, winning championships is first and foremost, but Tim
Duncan has won 4 titles, and no one would argue that his presence on an ad
campaign is more important than LeBron James'.
What's most important is that we want our greatest to act
like the greatest. We want to see them want it. We want to see them struggle to
achieve it, and when they get there, celebrate it with them. As such, neither
man has gotten there. I call this "The South Beach Theory": devaluing your brand in an attempt to build
it up. It's the single-minded pursuit of improving your own situation, while forgetting that there are other factors involved. 
For LeBron, it's not because we wanted him to stay in
Cleveland. Hell, I was glad he left. The organization had failed to bring him
another guy to play with, and more importantly, to win with. At the end of his
7 years in Northeastern Ohio, the best guys that had run side-by-side with
James were Antawn Jamison, Mo Williams and Anderson Varejao. Hardly the type of
help that Mitch Kupchak got Kobe Bryant in Pau Gasol or RC Buford got Tim
Duncan in Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.
What we all wanted was for LeBron was to be the man who he promised us he was. We wanted him to be the Chosen One, the next great star to
lead his team to victory in totality. Not the guy who'd join his biggest rival
and still shrink away like George Constanza coming out of the pool. We wanted
to see if he could be the greatest by his own hand, but instead we got
greatness from the hands of many. We were disappointed because LeBron committed
to nothing except for improving his own personal situation. He didn't care
about his constituents that had spent their hard-earned money buying into his
false promises that yes, you were in turn buying in to the Chosen One. He
didn't care that the months-long soap opera was only fueled by his constant
indecision and back talk, and how he allowed it to spiral into affecting his
and his team's play. As saddened as all of us hoopheads were by The Decision,
and his choice of where he wanted to play, nothing made us collectively sadder
than how he conducted himself like a boy, rather than a man.
Sound familiar, Dwight? Yes, it does. But with him, it
goes deeper. It's not just the manner in which he'd conducted himself up until
the trade deadline, and the day-in and day-out lack of commitment to an Orlando
team that he threw under the bus time and time again. It's been his attitude every
day since then, presumably until when he decides to leave the Magic for good
and everything leading up to now.
What's happening with LeBron and Dwight is that they don't
realize that building your brand isn't just about where you go and the finality
of the season. It's about commitment, whether it be to your city, your team or
to making yourself better. The South Beach Theory isn't just about damaging
your brand in an attempt to make it stronger, or moving to a bigger market
necessarily. It's that the pathways behind the attempt are completely and
totally misguided. For LeBron, it was misguided because after acting like a
insecure little kid all season long and not wanting for "anyone to get mad
at him", his final decision was one that shied away from that which would
make him the greatest. For Dwight, it's not just that he's replicating what
LeBron did in his lack of commitment to either leaving, staying or just not discussing it (I don't understand
why these guys just don't constantly say "No comment". How hard is
that? To just stand your ground?), it's his seeming lack of commitment on the
physical end of the game.
I mentioned it in our Grantland-endorsed piece on Andrew Bynum a few weeks ago, but when you look at Dwight's previous 8 seasons in the
league, how much better has the guy gotten? If you look at his game and how
much he's improved, you'll see that other than a bank shot he rarely takes (or
makes), and a running hook shot, there's very little complication he's made to
his post-offense arsenal. More to the point, despite leading the league in free
throw attempts 4 out of the past 5 seasons, Dwight's free throw percentage hit
a career low this year at 49%. It's not just that we're disgusted with Dwight's
cowardly indecision, or his willingness to throw his teammates, organization
and coaching staff under the bus on a dime, but it's that, unlike LeBron, has
shown so little improvement within himself. Say what you want about James'
handling of his departure from Cleveland, but the guy has transformed himself
from a non-shooting, non-defending small forward who got by on his build and
athleticism, into one of the most complete players in the league. For Dwight,
The South Beach Theory isn't just that he's doing a terribly disgraceful job in
leaving his team for a new one, but also that he's doing not doing enough that
should make us WANT to buy into him in the first place. This is the reason why Dwight isn't getting love in the season-end awards, and why LeBron isn't the unquestioned MVP. It's not because Dwight missed 12 games or LeBron's team is finishing 2nd in the East. It's because we just don't like these guys. Simple as that. If Kevin Durant were putting up LeBron's numbers, would there even a be a question for the MVP trophy? Tyson Chandler will have played 10 more games than Dwight Howard. Does that mean he's the consensus Defensive Player of the Year, without Dwight even in consideration?
I know that these guys have a million different managers, agents, lawyers and family members pulling themselves in a dozen different directions. I'm aware that they live in their own secluded bubbles, filled with yes men and personal friends. But with Twitter, Facebook, 19 different ESPN channels and the fact that they perform in front of 18 THOUSAND NBA fans every other night, the ignorance that these guys sustain is staggering. How do they not see what we all see? That's probably the most important and unanswerable question of all.
LeBron's actions nearly 2 years ago are still affecting his career today, and callous as it was, the ever-improving James at least made a Decision. Can you imagine how far and how long this will follow a stagnantly-skilled Dwight? The South Beach Theory strikes again.
Who's next?
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