Dwight Howard is a Dick

For once the Knicks were involved in a game this season in which they weren't the most dysfunctional team on the court. If you tuned into last night's game expecting a fired up Magic team still smarting from the embarrassing beat down at the Garden last week that would show up to play despite their recent shenanigans in the locker room (as I was) you were probably surprised at the lopsided score. The Magic didn't just give up, they laid there and let Toney Douglas dominate them in the 4th quarter without a hint of a Pacers like comeback. And of all the players on that team going through the motions, who was the worst offender? "Superman" himself, that smiling doofus wandering around on the court last night like the Bay Ridge Yeti on 3rd avenue. And he had as much of an impact through most of last night's game as the Yeti (except he wore a shirt). And we thought the Melo vs D'Antoni drama was bad. Those two were as tight as Vinnie and Pauly D compared to what's going on with the Magic. Dwight's as dominant as anyone that's played center not named Shaq over the past 30 years when he's at his best and working hard so it's obvious that when he barely even breaks a sweat through 3 quarters that he's just being a dick. Why is he getting somewhat of a pass? That stupid smile and Schwarzenegger impressions can only take him so far. Beneath the goofy veneer lies a coach killer as bad as Iverson, Kobe and Carmelo. At least those guys mostly played hard during their rough patches with their respective coaches (a case could be made against Carmelo for sure but he got KILLED in the media). Stan Van Gundy definitely deserves some blame in this, and he probably shouldn't have said anything to the gathered reporters at shootaround about his knowledge that Dwight wants him fired, but to get mad at him is missing the point. Why should we get upset at SVG for keeping it real and saying he knows that one of his players wants him fired, instead of being angry at the guy who said it in the first place? It's hard to tell if a coach is loafing during a game - they just sit there all game anyway and there's no statistics to measure them by on a game by game basis- but we know for sure that Dwight gave up. It was as listless a performance as I've ever seen in an NBA game, his own form of silent protest while his team loses it's 5th straight. Grow up, Dwight. All SVG has done in his tenure as Magic coach is take your team to the playoffs every year including one Finals appearance. Other than you, he's never had a legitimate second star to work with. He's basically done a lot with a little, which is precisely the opposite of what you've done. There's never been a more physically imposing and athletically gifted basketball player, yet far too often Howard puts up invisible performances like last night or the previous game vs the Knicks. I don't know if I buy the argument that a superstar has to be mean to succeed in the NBA, but I do know that Dwight's stupid impressions and need to be the funniest guy in the room aren't winning ball games anymore than his pouting is. Van Gundy will probably be fired very soon, but the real issue is with the tallest clown in the room.