Remember when the only way to hear what silly things professional athletes had to say was to tune in to SportsCenter every week night? Thanks to Twitter, those days have long since been over, and unfortunately for the Los Angeles Lakers, so is there 2012-'13 NBA season.
That didn't stop Lakers center Dwight Howard from taking to his keyboard, opening his mouth and inserting his foot once again. After his Lakers were swept out of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs, Dwight turned to Twitter for a late night rant.
"I'm still upset about tonight's game and the way this season ended", said Dwight. "I'm mad I lost my cool and I'm sorry for letting my team and our fans down when they needed me the most. If there's one thing I've learned this year it's that I need to be more responsible for my actions and learn to "breathe" (maybe I will take up yoga and come back calmer or Charlie Sheen can help me with my anger management)! But despite our tough season, it's an honor being a member of a team with this amazing history and the best fans in the league. I hope I get the chance to make it up to you. Thank you LA."
Now, there are two huge concerns that I have when it comes to that tweet (three, if you include the random Charlie Sheen mention that has been described by some in Hollywood as a ploy to get his on-screen debut in the actor's hit show). The first concern is the fact that a 27 and a half year-old man is [supposedly] just now learning that he has to be responsible for his actions (his words, not mine). This is PURELY SPECULATION on my part, but maybe his lack of responsibility and maturity is the biggest reason he is widely regarded, by all but a few of the most respected basketball figure-heads in the world, to be the most overrated player the league has seen in a long, long time.
The second big concern I have with that tweet is the fact that he acts if he might not get the chance to make it up to LA, his teammates and his fans. That just could not be further from the truth. When LA acquired Dwight in a three-team trade last summer, they made it clear that they wanted to lock Dwight up to a long term deal before this season--the All-Star refused.
Now, there's no guarantee that LA is going to offer Dwight a max contract this summer, but most people (even after this atrocious season) still believe that they will. Even if they aren't quite sure what they want to do, it should be rather simple for Dwight's agent to convince them in to it based off of what the rest of Los Angeles' roster may look like next season--despite what Metta World Peace thinks.
Pau Gasol is due $18M next season, and the question of whether or not Mitch Kupchak might amnesty Gasol this summer is being asked more and more often. As if that weren't bad enough, the same question is being asked about Kobe Bryant, who in the best-case scenario is going to be ready sometime in early 2014 if he is able to return from tearing his Achilles. On top of that, the team's first and second-string point guards were both out to end this season.
Last summer, the Lakers claimed they were going to keep Mike Brown as their coach. They maintained that promise...until just after the fifth game this past season, when they fired Brown and hired Mike D'Antoni. If I were D'Antoni, I wouldn't feel too comfortable with my job, despite the fact that Kupchak has already declared he is not going to fire D'Antoni. As someone who is a very big fan of Pau Gasol, if they keep D'Antoni, I certainly hope they amnesty or trade him before D'Antoni runs Gasol's career right in to the ground by mishandling him on the offensive end of the floor. It's no wonder why he has since taken up making books of inspirational quotes.
There's no doubt telling whether or not LA is going to offer Dwight a max contract this off-season. If they choose not to offer him that, there is no doubt that Houston is going to offer him the absolute most money they can--and I would bet a lot of money (you know, if gambling were legal!) that he is going to sign with Morey and his Rockets.