Dwight Howard gets emotional at introduction for hometown Hawks
It’s fair to say that Dwight Howard has not had an especially great time professionally over the past few years. Once overwhelmingly considered the greatest big man of his era, Howard’s complicated departure from the Orlando Magic, disastrous lone season with the Los Angeles Lakers, and up-and-down three years with the Houston Rockets have sent his reputation plummeting. He is still an effective player (especially in a league hurting for high-value centers), but certainly not close to the shoo-in Defensive Player of the Year candidate he once was.
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Nevertheless, there’s reason to hope that Howard can recapture a meaningful portion of his past form after signing a three-year contract with his hometown Atlanta Hawks. The team officially introduced Howard to the media and fans on Wednesday, and he got emotional over the chance to perform in his birthplace close to his family and friends.
"This is a real new beginning for me, and I’m happy to share it with my loved ones." – @DwightHoward #TrueToAtlanta pic.twitter.com/DWBzTPjbBb
— FOX Sports Southeast (@FOXSportsSE) July 13, 2016
The emotion appears to take Howard by surprise, to the point where he comes across as genuine in a way that he rarely has over the past few seasons. It’s difficult to remember now, but Howard became a fan favorite early in his career with a fun-loving personality. As he told ESPN’s Marc Stein on Tuesday, his hope is that he can remind people of that past now that he’s with a new franchise:
“The one thing that just really I hate to hear with a passion is that I’m a cancer in the locker room and I’m a guy that wants to separate and divide a team,” he responded. “I’ve never been that way my whole life. I’ve always been somebody who wants to bring people together, whether that’s my teammates or that’s the community, families, whatever it may be. Just to hear that word — cancer — it pisses me off, to be honest with you, because that’s not who I am. […]
“People are always going to talk,” Howard said. “I think the biggest thing that I have to do is not allow it to get into my heart.”
“There’s always going to be negative things being said about us as basketball players,” he added, “but [I have to] just not allow it to consume me. I think for the longest [time], I allowed negativity to consume who I was, and I stopped being who I was. I stopped being this happy person, this person that loved to enjoy the game of basketball, have a passion for it. So just not allowing those negative things to hit my ears.” […]
“It’s really just a new beginning for me,” Howard told ESPN on Tuesday. “… I want to change from where I was at in my career and try to make the latter part of my career greater than the first part.”
It’s unclear if the Hawks are in a position to lift up Howard. The trade of Jeff Teague and free agent loss of Al Horford has lessened Atlanta’s depth and delivered a host of new questions, including the ability of Dennis Schröder to be a full-time starting point guard and Howard’s own ability to stay healthy. Regardless, Mike Budenholzer’s team prides itself on balance and could provide a more stable atmosphere for a player in need of it.
Howard is certainly doing his best to occupy his new, yet familiar, role as a positive force. In addition to Wednesday’s emotion, his interview with Stein includes the biblical references that typified his entry into the league as a devout Christian in 2004. Consciously or not, Howard seems ready to engage with basketball on a purer level than he has these last few seasons. His days as a superstar are gone, but Howard clearly sees an opportunity to put himself on a better path.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
