Los Angeles Lakers Archives

The Dwight Howard Situation

I will just like to put this out there now, I’m a big Lakers fan so pardon me if this article has any bias based opinions.

Back in August of last year the Dwight Howard to LA trade went down and my beloved Lakers went to the top of the charts and instant favorites to be serious contenders for our next NBA Championship. Our front court had the most dominant center in the league in Dwight Howard, the best passing big man in Pau Gasol; add to that one of the greatest shooters in NBA history in Steve Nash and one of the best to ever play the game in Kobe Bryant. Fast forward to April of this year and we are swept right out of the playoffs, the ones we just barely crept into, by the San Antonio Spurs. Now Laker Nation awaits July 1st when our next “franchise superstar” in Dwight Howard marches his way into free agency. After watching him this season, I say let him go.

How Laker Nation last saw Dwight during game 4 against the Spurs

This years free agency class is highlighted by Dwight Howard (seeing that Chris Paul will most likely stay with the Clippers) and the teams measuring their interest in the big man revolve around Los Angeles, Houston, and Dallas. Only the Lakers though can offer him their franchise max contract of five years with $118 million dollars along with their history of storied big men and the tradition of winning no matter what. Houston can offer four years with $98 million dollars and their young up and coming star in James Harden. Dallas can offer Dwight the same as Houston. From a money point of view the Lakers are the clear-cut winners and from a historical point of view the Lakers also are clear winners; from a pure basketball point of view though Houston are clear winners as they only need a man like Dwight to contend in the West.

Dwight Howard received a lot of punishment from the media for leaving Orlando the way he did, is that bound to repeat?

Statistically Dwight Howard has been declining over, especially over the past season. Between 2008-2011 Dwight took his Magic team to one Final appearance and a 219-102 record; over the past two seasons with the Magic and Lakers he’s finished with a total 75-55 record. Wow. His offensive production has also dipped sharply; in 2011 he averaged 22.9 PPG, 14.1 RPG, and a 59% FG. In 2013 he was averaging 17.1 PPG, 12.4 RPG, while shooting %58 from the field. Dwight has clearly past his peak production and no team should commit such a large amount of their salary cap or build their team around a star who has already started dropping off. Of course..the Lakers are run by Jim Buss so that’s still possible.

Looking past the numbers it isn’t hard to see that Dwight just cannot handle the pressure of playing in L.A. Playing for the Lakers, especially to be the next franchise player, means you must live up to some huge names and live up to the Laker tradition of winning. The Lakers, since 1960, have sent 25 teams to the NBA Finals, won 11 championships, and have had our court graced by the likes of Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal. To top that all off the L.A Lakers have had four of the ten best basketball teams ever (’72, ’82, ’87, ’01), have been run by one of the greatest owners in history by Jerry Buss, and have been coached by the future Hall of Famer in Phil Jackson. If all that wasn’t hard enough to live up to as the next franchise player in Los Angeles, Dwight Howard would be filling the void of the greatest Laker of all time in Kobe Bryant. It’s sad to say that faced with any type of pressure a man like Dwight Howard who stands six foot and eleven inches shrinks back to a normal height.

Perhaps the self-proclaimed “Superman” isn’t so “super” anymore

No matter what the media is saying about the pending free agency of Dwight Howard and no matter what team does land the big man, it will be a question if the team wants to roll the dice on Howard or chooses to pass. Houston is the clear basketball choice for Howard as that team is young and ready to make an even bigger splash next season than they did this past season. A James Harden – Dwight Howard combo would be a mighty force to reckon with no matter who they face. As for my beloved Lakers please Jim Buss do not even approach the table and pick up the dice.

The Streaking ‘Heat’ Stopped by the Bulls

The Miami Heat 27-game win streak has officially been derailed. The 1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers record of 33-straight is safe. The Wednesday night match-up with the Chicago Bulls was another hard fought game that favored more of a football game between the Miami Dolphins vs. the Chicago Bears at times. With LeBron James being literally tackled by a Bulls defender as James attempted a layup or close lined by Taj Gibson during another layup attempt, this was one physical outing. Nevertheless, the streak is over. But what a run it was.

The Heat hadn’t lost a game since February 1, against the Indiana Pacers but on February 3, against the Toronto Raptors, the historic Heat journey began. During the 52-days of this run, the Heat had some impressive achievements. They compiled 13-road wins, overcame 7-double digit deficits (one of those, a staggering 27-point hole they had dug against a short handed Cleveland Cavaliers team just last week), averaged nearly 51% shooting from the field (50.8), had an 11.9 point margin of victory, and earned the 2nd longest NBA win streak in history. LeBron James averaged 27-points during the streak while shooting an amazing 57.5% with 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Dwayne Wade had great numbers as well, averaging 22.8 a game and shooting 53.6%.

Needless to say, the streak hadn’t gone without notice. Some of the greats of the game, both past and present, expressed their perspectives of this amazing run by the Miami Heat. Hall of Famer, Jerry West, who is one of the proud participants of the current 33-game win streak from the ’71-’72 Lakers, said on Wednesday nights Heat loss,

I really thought they were going to do it. It’s a remarkable streak. I wasn’t rooting against them at all. At halftime, I thought they were going to win the game. But all you need sometimes is a few things to go wrong. It was a great accomplishment. It creates incredible fan interest.

West also added that he feels the Heat players wouldn’t be distracted by the loss due to their ultimate goal and focus for year end accomplishments–the NBA Title.

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers added thoughts from a fans perspective in saying,

I think just as a student of the game, as a fan of the game, you appreciate those kind of streaks and you realize how difficult it is to put together that big of a streak. Obviously the Lakers winning 33 in a row was phenomenal, but the Heat’s one was just as impressive.

No matter if you’re a fan of the Miami Heat or not, you have to appreciate the significance of this extraordinary run. To win 27-straight games against NBA players is not like winning that many in the college level or below. These are professional basketball players. Yes, some teams are weaker than others, but I guarantee you could never comprise your best 5 to 10 players off the street and expect to perform at a higher level than the worst NBA team. The 1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers know how difficult it was, just as the 1972 Miami Dolphins who have the record of a Perfect Season going undefeated and winning the Super Bowl in that season finishing 17-0. Unheard of back then, and still, no one has matched them to date.

So we, as fans, are and will always be, in awe of greatness. No matter the team, the sport, or the individual. Amazing will always be Amazing. Thank you Miami Heat players for bringing us fans such an amazing stretch of basketball. Now, it’s time for the playoffs and time to defend as NBA CHAMPS!

Let’s Go Heat!