No More Excuses For Dwight Howard In Houston

These past couple of seasons, Dwight Howard has been the center of the NBA free agent world thanks to his indecisive and bizarre behavior. One minute he loves where he's at, the next minute he hates it. One minute he loves his coach, the next minute he wants him canned. All this time, Dwight Howard has viewed other people around him as the problem, and all this time we have somewhat given him the benefit of the doubt. He didn't have the right team around him in Orlando; Kobe Bryant was selfish and  Mike D'Antoni was incompetent in Los Angeles, etc. But now that he is a member of the Houston Rockets and is away from the circus of Los Angeles and has surrounded himself with better talent than he had in Orlando, it is time for Dwight Howard to look at himself in the mirror and demand that he makes his situation better and not other people. 

What I'm really saying is he needs to become a better basketball player. These past three seasons, we've seen his scoring average go from 22.9 to 20.6 to 17.1 points per game as well as his rebounding average go from 14.1 to 14.4 to 12.4. That means that his numbers in the 2009-10 season (18.3 points per game/ 13.2 rebounds per game) were actually better than they were this year (17.1 points per game/ 12.4 rebounds per game). In other words, he has regressed since that time, and he hasn't gotten any better. 

                                            image from ksat.com

Now while it may be true that Dwight Howard is still the best center in the NBA ahead of Roy Hibbert and Andrew Bynum, it is not true that being the best center is all that he is supposed to be. He is supposed to be the centerpiece and leader of championship teams like Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O'Neal. But so far, it doesn't look like he is capable of being that player thanks to his whining and lack of responsibility for his own actions. He instead looks like he's on the path to becoming one of the most squandered talents in NBA history. 

That being said, he is in a fresh place now in Houston, which is a place he chose to be in. He chose the Rockets and the Rockets welcomed him in to their fold, expecting him to be their leader over the coming decade. He has the pieces around him to win a title with James Harden, Jeremy Lin, and Chandler Parsons around him. Now all that needs to happen is he needs to step up and become the franchise changing center that many have thought him to be. Excuses and whiny behavior won't save him this time. It's time for him to produce and bring home the titles or just admit he isn't what he's all cracked up to be. 

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord