Dwight Howard has a message for the Washington Wizards and their fans … and the NBA, for that matter:
“I ain’t no bad person.”
And …
“I would never try to destroy a team.”
Interesting way to kick off your first official day with your new team, wouldn’t you say? But Howard’s NBA career has hardly been defined by his considerable talent or numbers. His career has been a winding road of on-court brilliance and off-court tumult since the Orlando Magic made Howard the No. 1 overall pick of the 2004 NBA Draft as an 18-year-old straight out of high school.
Now 32 years old and about to play for his sixth NBA team – his fifth in seven seasons – Howard addressed the baggage he carries with him right off the bat after signing a one-year contract with an option on Thursday.
“I ain’t no bad person. I ain’t never been no bad person in the locker room. All this stuff is just lies to try to justify why I was traded, or why I left the team,” Howard said, per The Washington Post. “But anybody who knows me, who’s been around me, on and off the court, I ain’t never been no a–hole, I ain’t never been no mean person. I would never try to destroy a team, but that’s a narrative that they always tried to say to me because they couldn’t say nothing else.”
Wizards guard John Wall, a five-time NBA All-Star, hopes Howard, who averaged 16.6 points and 12.5 rebounds per game last season for the Hornets, will be key to the Wizards’ hopes in the now wide-open, post-LeBron James Eastern Conference. The Wizards were 43-39 last season and lost in the first round of the NBA playoffs to the Raptors.
“It’s a perfect opportunity,” Wall told the Post. “I mean, LeBron left the East. I think he makes our team even more deeper and better and gives us somebody that’s hard to switch (against).”
But Wall also knows about Howard’s reputation.
“I think he’s trying to have an opportunity to change the perception people have of him,” Wall said. “I think it should be fun and exciting for us. Hopefully he comes in with a serious focus and mindset [that] he wants to get better and help our team.”
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