Dwight Howard and James Harden (Photo : Getty Images/Scott Halleran)
The spotlight has recently been on Dwight Howard and he now responds to the criticism.
One of the serious issues thrown at him was his alleged rift with superstar teammate, James Harden.
Howard having disagreements with teammates is nothing new as his travails with the LA Lakers, specifically Kobe Bryant are well publicized. With the Rockets, there were reports that both Howard and Harden tried to get each other traded.
In an extensive interview with Sam Amick of USA Today, one of the topics explored was the issue with Harden which D12 sought to downplay.
"People feel ... like we hate each other," Howard said. "I have no hate in my blood for this man, you know? For what? He came from nothing. We both came from nothing. And we're doing something that we love. We grew up playing this game for fun, and we had big dreams of making it to the NBA."
"So I would never hate this man because I know what it took for me to get here, and he made it. So I want him to succeed. I want us to succeed. Before coming here, I watched endless hours of YouTube videos on James Harden, before he had the beard. I watched all that stuff, because I'm like, 'Dang, this boy, he's got so much talent.'"
After building up his respect for Harden, he focused on their team relationship.
"We both have to figure out how we're going to make this thing work. It's on us. We've got the rest of the season, and the playoffs, and we can do it. It's a mindset. It's a mentality. And the whole team will fall in line when me and him are on that same page and the team sees that we're strong together. ... Collectively, if we just come together like we're supposed to..."
"It takes time, you know?" he said. "It takes time. If we can just come together like we're supposed to and like we want to, then I'm telling you, we can win a championship."
It sounds like something an impending free agent would say. There are now serious doubts on whether Howard would get a max contract at the staggering amount of $30 million considering all his red flags. The fact that he burned bridges with his previous teams may not sit well on teams wanting to acquire him.
Team chemistry issues do take time to resolve, but this is Howard's third season with Harden, as CBS notes: "Even two years ago, Howard's first with the team, Houston managed to win 54 games. It won't get close to that this time, and it is disappointing that Howard still has to talk about getting on the same page with Harden after 70 games."
For the Rockets' side, they might also realize that they are no longer the free agency hotshots from years ago. Losing Howard and not being able to replace him will be disastrous for the team (as they should know, watching the Lakers now). They need to make damage control in case they might need to keep Howard.
