And then when Howard effectively forced his way out of Orlando and became a Laker, he was once again following Shaq, who has in his own delicate way suggested Howard does not have an original bone in his body.
The one issue that will likely have a much smaller effect than the way it has been portrayed is money. The Lakers can offer Howard a five-year contract for approximately $118 million. Any other team can offer four years at about $87 million.
Now, as I like to point out, if he somehow spent $87 million, it would be nice to have an extra $31 million left over. But it is also important to remember that Howard has already made $83 million in his career and he is 27 years old.
So if he were to leave for Houston, Golden State or Dallas and play four years, at the end of that contract he would have made $170 million and be in line for another deal that would be for five years at about $135 million.
Suffice it to say, money should not be an issue.
You have to figure that teams in pursuit of Howard will likely use the Lakers tradition as a reason for him to leave LA. It would seem that if you want to touch a nerve in Howard, the best way to do it would be to point out that it would be unique in NBA history for him to leave the Lakers. That would make him so different than the scores of players who have sacrificed playing time, money or both just to experience the Lakers organization.
That would make him different than O’Neal.
The two Texas teams can also point out there are no state taxes in Texas, so that would reduce the difference in what Howard will be giving up to leave the Lakers.
And if you are Mark Cuban, you have an extra selling point. In Houston, Howard would join a team with better and younger players, particularly James Harden. Then again, Harden has established himself as the franchise player of the Rockets, so would Howard be OK playing on Harden’s team?
While the 23-year-old Harden has his entire career in front of him, Dallas is led by the 34-
year-old Dirk Nowitzki. On paper, Houston would seem to be in better shape.
But here’s what Cuban and the Mavericks have going for them that the Rockets do not. Nowitzki is perhaps the most unassuming superstar in NBA history – or at least second behind Tim Duncan. If Cuban and Nowitzki make it into the same room as Howard when free agency begins, Dirk will look Dwight in the face and say: “It’s your team. I’ll play a role.”
And he’ll mean it. Dwight can then come to Dallas and be the anchor of the franchise.
Predicting what Howard will do is a little like predicting which outfit Lady Gaga will next wear. And since he likely has no idea, neither does anyone else.
But what Howard is merely considering is extraordinary. Is it possible that instead of embracing the illustrious Lakers organization and its history, that a premier free agent will actually leave?
That would certainly make Dwight Howard an original.
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Jan Hubbard has written about basketball since 1976 and worked in the NBA league office for eight years between media stints. Follow him on Twitter at @whyhub.