Dwight Howard vs LeBron James: Who’s The Bigger Villain?
The whole NBA can finally breath a sigh of relief as the Dwight Howard saga is finally over, with D12 being the latest player to join the Los Angeles Lakers. This gives the Lakers a very solid big four, and pushes them into the driver seat in the West as long as they can develop solid chemistry.
During this trade-demanding saga, Dwight Howard has developed into quite the villain. However, he certainly hasn’t been criticized or hated on the same level that LeBron James has. The reasoning for that is beyond me.
Not once did LeBron demand a trade. In fact, LeBron never complained despite having an awful supporting cast. The best player the Cleveland Cavaliers could surround him with was Mo Williams, and he made the all-star game. Where is Mo now?
Now, let’s take a look at the flip side of things. I can’t remember the amount of times Dwight Howard has had a meeting with the Orlando Magic front office, or demanded a trade. Even still, his demands were so narrow that it forced the franchise to trade him to a certain list of teams, limiting the assets they could get for the superstar. Dwight signed the player option at the 2012 trade deadline to give the Magic another shot this year, but instead of doing that he demanded a trade 3 months later.
Another thing people are angry at LeBron for is ‘The Decision’. Sure, LeBron went out and publicly announced he wasn’t staying with Cleveland, but people don’t realize that when a media outlet such as ESPN comes to you and asks you to do such a thing it’s hard to say no. Regardless, he apologized for the whole thing and wishes he did it differently, despite raising over two million dollars for charities.
On the other hand, Howard bailed on his own kids camp. He promised to make a special guest appearance but backed out of his commitment to stay in Florida on vacation. Howard has been avoiding the matter because he knows how wrong it is, yet he doesn’t seem to care.
Believe it or not Dwight Howard used to be a funny, loved, respectful guy once. Where did those days go?
LeBron leaving Cleveland was certainly heartbreaking for the fans, but the way Howard has left Orlando and disrespected the franchise is far worse, and his return to Orlando should be very interesting.
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