The Redemption of Dwight Howard

[MaceCase]

Jayu is pointing out a typical passive-aggressive response. Information on Dwight's charity event could have been presented without a veiled correlation to team performance nor it being some conspiratorial effort by an invested party to draw attention away....

Calm down.

[Jamaaliver]

Jayu is pointing out a typical passive-aggressive response...

Calm down.

i'll try to keep it positive in the thread I created solely for praising Dwight Howard.

So here's a little holiday cheer from the big man in a PR move for the season:

^Totally inappropriate.

[Jamaaliver]

ESPN highlighted a pretty impressive stat regarding Dwight this past weekend:

Howard a rebounding machine

Dwight Howard has tallied 20-plus rebounds in 61 games over the past [decade]...29 more than the next closest player. He snagged 23 boards against the Hornets on Saturday night. (ESPN Stats & Info)

[Jamaaliver]

With yet another 20 rebound performance under his belt, the Dwight Howard lovefest is beginning to regain momentum from the national media.

Can he ride this positive coverage to another All Star selection?

Will Dwight Howard Be An All-Star?

The Atlanta Hawks may have lost Al Horford during the offseason, but they rebounded as well as they could have by signing Dwight Howard.

...the Hawks find themselves in sixth place in the race to the Eastern Conference playoffs. They have also gone from a bottom-10 rebounding team (24th with 42.1 last season) to a middle of the pack outfit this year (17th, 43.5).

...at 31 years of age, Howard is further away than ever in his quest to win a championship. If he wants to be considered a Hall of Fame player one day, then his individual numbers and All-Star appearances are what will get him there.

His 13 rebounds per game is the best mark since the 2011-12 season, when he was in his prime with the Magic.

Even more impressive however, is the fact that Howard is grabbing 25.2 percent of his team’s rebounds, a career-high for him. Meanwhile his effective field goal percentage of 64.6 percent is the third-highest in the league right now, and another career high. His Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 23.3 is also his best since his last season with the Magic, while also being the 21st-best mark in the league.

HoopsHabit

[jayu70]

With yet another 20 rebound performance under his belt, the Dwight Howard lovefest is beginning to regain momentum from the national media.

Can he ride this positive coverage to another All Star selection?

Will Dwight Howard Be An All-Star?

The Atlanta Hawks may have lost Al Horford during the offseason, but they rebounded as well as they could have by signing Dwight Howard.

...the Hawks find themselves in sixth place in the race to the Eastern Conference playoffs. They have also gone from a bottom-10 rebounding team (24th with 42.1 last season) to a middle of the pack outfit this year (17th, 43.5).

...at 31 years of age, Howard is further away than ever in his quest to win a championship. If he wants to be considered a Hall of Fame player one day (and really, who doesn’t?) then his individual numbers and All-Star appearances are what will get him there.

His 13 rebounds per game is the best mark since the 2011-12 season, when he was in his prime with the Magic.

Even more impressive however, is the fact that Howard is grabbing 25.2 percent of his team’s rebounds, a career-high for him. Meanwhile his effective field goal percentage of 64.6 percent is the third-highest in the league right now, and another career high. His Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 23.3 is also his best since his last season with the Magic, while also being the 21st-best mark in the league.

Here

He's leading the league in offensive rebounds per game as well.

[Jamaaliver]

This storyline may have hit it's climax...or it's first real hurdle:

Read on Twitter

[Jamaaliver]

With the Hawks getting back to their winning ways, Dwight making the rounds again on the National Stage:

Read on Twitter

[Jamaaliver]

D12 has a nice high profile gig which, I'm sure, helps a bit in rehabilitating his image with young NBA fans:

Read on Twitter

[HMFFL]

Dwight has worked out nicely for us.
I hope it continues and he stays happy. It's nice to see him having fun, being mature, and not being a cancer like his LA days.

[Jamaaliver]

Dwight seems okay with this, so...

Watch on YouTube

[jayu70]

Dwight seems okay with this, so...

Watch on YouTube

Sometimes, you just gotta laugh at yourself.

[ATL Boy]

Marc J. Spears penned an interview with Dwight Howard over at the undefeated. Some tidbits (the question from Spears is quoted first and the response is second):

What does being home in Atlanta mean to you?

I’ve always wanted to play in Atlanta and represent my hometown team. We can do something special here. This team has always been close to my heart even while being in the NBA. It was tough to come play here. It was tough to watch them in the playoffs and see them lose. This place has always been special to me.

Could you have played in Atlanta professionally right out of high school?

Probably not. I don’t think I was ready for that. Timing was always everything. After being in the league for a couple of years, now I can say, ‘Hey, this is the right time to come back home.’ I wouldn’t have been able to survive being home a little bit earlier. I had to grow. I had to learn a lot of different things on my own. My family is a big part of me and we had to really learn how to co-exist. There were a lot of different factors being home, being young and just really not knowing certain things that I needed to learn by getting away.

In 2013, you could have signed with the Hawks as a free agent, but instead you left the Lakers for the Rockets. Why didn’t you sign with Atlanta then?

I don’t think it was the right time. I always had dreams about coming here. It could have been great, but I looked at the Houston situation as something that could’ve been really special.

Do you hope to get your jersey retired in Orlando one day?

A lot of great things happened in Orlando while I was there despite them being upset about how the situation ended. Those years before that, the Magic went from the team that everyone laughed about to a team that everyone took seriously. It wasn’t just, ‘We’re going to Orlando to go to Disney World and chill.’ It was, ‘No, we got to stay here because we have a battle coming.’

How’s your body now?

My body is great. That is one thing I pride myself on, taking care of my body. People have talked about, ‘He’s getting older. His body is breaking down.’ I do a good job of taking care of my body. The last couple of years my body felt great. In Houston, my body felt great. I had a couple times after getting fouled where it kind of messed up certain things. But other than that, I felt great.

How would you describe the Hawks and your chances of doing something big this season?

We need to become more consistent. We don’t have a lot of time. Consistency will get us through the playoffs if we can be consistent for four quarters. If we move the ball, share the ball, we can beat anybody.

It's a very good interview. He talks about the situation with Houston and LA, talks more about Atlanta and playing for the Hawks. Here's the link: https://theundefeated.com/features/atlanta-hawks-dwight-howard-kobe-bryant-james-harden-orlando/

[Jamaaliver]

This Hawks Season Is Not Dwight’s Fault

Atlanta is tied for the fifth seed, but just two games out of the eighth spot. Whether or not the Hawks make the playoffs: This season is not on Dwight.

Now, Dwight finds himself on a team trying to right its own track record...poised for another mid-tier seeding and respectable second-round out — forever staying in the limbo of being good, but not that good. Very Hawksian.

Howard is the one healthy and consistent veteran that Atlanta can turn to right now. Howard is having the best rebounding season of his career. And with an injured Millsap, he’s the most talented Hawks player on the court every night.

But Playoff Dwight isn’t enough to surge past the upper tier of the Eastern Conference.

And history won’t point to him when the Hawks fail.

The Ringer

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

All the credit in the world to Dwight for putting on a happy face in public and carrying on with his offseason commitments.

I'm sure he's angry, embarrassed and disappointed. But he's said the right things outwardly.

Much respect to the hometown, kid. We needed to part ways, but I wish him the best.

NOTE: He is going to destroy the Hawks next season in head to head matchups.

[Jamaaliver]

Again, Dwight's philanthropic endeavors off the court deserve highlighting. Good for him. Great for the kids in Charlotte:

Howard donates $100,000 to start Boys & Girls Club in Charlotte

Dwight Howard made his first trip to Charlotte since his trade from Atlanta – and it was to start a Boys and Girls Club.

The Starmount Academy of Excellence received $100,000 from Howard for the operational expenses to begin a Boys and Girls Club at the elementary school. Howard made his initial appearance in the city at the kickoff event on Thursday. Howard challenged students to read two books before the Hornets’ regular-season opener to receive tickets to a game.

myAJC



And, as always, it never hurts to get some positive press from the new employer--

Read on Twitter

[kg01]

Again, Dwight philanthropic endeavors off the court deserve highlighting. Good for him. Great for the kids in Charlotte:

Howard donates $100,000 to start Boys & Girls Club in Charlotte

Dwight Howard made his first trip to Charlotte since his trade from Atlanta – and it was to start a Boys and Girls Club.

The Starmount Academy of Excellence received $100,000 from Howard for the operational expenses to begin a Boys and Girls Club at the elementary school. Howard made his initial appearance in the city at the kickoff event on Thursday. Howard challenged students to read two books before the Hornets’ regular-season opener to receive tickets to a game.

myAJC



And, as always, it never hurts to get some positive press from the new employer--

Read on Twitter

Booooo!!!

Not Hawks-related.

ETA: