Dwight Howard thinks his back woes are over 'for the rest of my career'
Dwight Howard underwent back surgery in 2012, and co-incidentally or not he hasn’t looked like the same player since. Back and knee issues limited him to half a season in 2014-15, his penultimate year with the Houston Rockets, and though Howard only missed 11 games in his final season with Houston in 2015-16, his presence wasn’t enough to pair with James Harden and turn the Rockets into the championship contender they should have been.
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In response, the Rockets hired former Howard nemesis Mike D’Antoni as coach during the offseason prior to watching Dwight move back home to Atlanta and the Hawks’ offer of a three-year, $70.5 million deal.
And his back? Dwight doesn’t want to hear about it. He’ll be fine, he says. From Steve Hummer at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Will his health hold up, specifically a back that was surgically repaired in 2012 (he also missed 52 games in his first two seasons in Houston with a variety of ailments, mostly knee)?
“My back hasn’t been an issue, and I don’t think I’ll ever have an issue out of my back for the rest of my career,” he said without pause.
Wait, what?
Pro athletes are loath to admit that injuries may have affected their production in the past, and might in the future. This isn’t to shame Dwight – who would seemingly have little reason to after signing a three-year, $70.5 million deal – but part of this has to do with their ability to make money. Copping to being less than one hundred percent, especially with something as significant as the resulting woes that typically stem from back surgery, could affect negotiation platforms moving forward. Even if you just cashed in on a massive deal.
Then there’s the whole idea that screams, “don’t make excuses!”
This apparently extends even to the seemingly thin-skinned Howard, who has now chafed at expectation at every stop. His top basketball moment remains his team’s 2009 run to the Finals, one that saw his Orlando Magic upend a heavily-favored 66-win Cleveland Cavaliers team. Every other time he stares down acting as the favorite – on a loaded 2010 Magic team, with Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash in Los Angeles, working with a near-MVP in Houston last season – Howard has fallen back.
No pun intended. Honest, which we hope Howard is being right now.
This isn’t to call out Dwight Howard as a lightweight, either. He genuinely has not looked the same since injuries ended his tumultuous and calamitous 2011-12 season (his last with Orlando, site of this scene) in ways that absolutely cannot be chalked up to feeling off-court pressure. The back has to be an issue, right?
Here’s the warming note, though. Dwight Howard, genuinely, isn’t that far off.
He led the NBA in defensive rebounding rate in 2011-12, and that has dipped a few points in the years since, but that’s dipping down from a league-leading percentage. His total rebound rate is down slightly, but not in any way that would seem severe after noticing that Dwight Howard turned 26 in 2011-12, and that he turned 30 last season. His block percentage is about the same, his True Shooting and overall shooting percentages actually chipped up last season.
His usage rate was way down (which also helps explain his drop in Player Efficiency Rating), though, a continuing trend that mostly has a lot to do with playing alongside Kobe, Nash, Pau Gasol and James Harden in the years since 2012. That stretch can’t completely be blamed on his teammates, however.
(By the way, from the Dan Patrick Show on Friday:
DP: Tougher to play with James Harden or Kobe Bryant?
DH: Both of those guys are great competitors. I just think the timing was off for all of us. You know we were all on different paths in our career. Kobe was at the tail end and James is on the rise. You know it was just two different types of teams. But I think that timing is important. And playing with the Hawks is the right time for me because I’m in a different space physically, mentally, and spiritually. And the Hawks two years ago we’re in a different position than they are now – especially with the new management. So I thinks it’s the perfect time to be home.
DP: Oh that’s a veteran answer there. C’mon answer it. Who’s tougher to play with Harden or Kobe?
DH: Well I can’t really say man. I don’t want to stir up anything. I think both of those guys are great players. And you know despite what people say me and Kobe didn’t have one of those bad relationships. Like I said, we were in two different parts of our career. And I think a lot of the things that were going on [were] hyped up and people thought it was more than what it really was. Personally I can never hate any player or hate on any player. You know all of us are blessed to be able to play in the NBA. It’s not easy to make it here, it’s not easy to stay here you know. So I’d never want to hate on anybody else who made it. I’m proud of anyone who made it to the NBA.
DP: How about I answer it for you Dwight? I’d say that Kobe’s personality was tougher to play with and James game was harder to play with. How about that?
DH: (Laughs) Ah I mean everybody is going to have their opinions
Indeed.)
This is not a post-up league anymore, and Dwight was never a transcendent post-up player. Despite his awkward moves, Howard never dipped down into the realm of the above-average. Just because he didn’t remind of Tim Duncan from eight feet away, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t very, very good.
That doesn’t mean that sort of play helps, in this era. Especially when you factor in Howard’s turnover woes, the sub-standard passing, and the whole idea that “hey, Dwight Howard just put himself on an island with the ball, and he makes less than half his free throws: FOUL HIM!”
Despite his propensity to garner offensive fouls with a bit of odd timing and/or big butt, Howard needed to develop a more pronounced screen and roll game. For all the shouting from basic cable TV-types about Dwight’s inability to turn into Kevin McHale down low, the real source of development needed to be in making himself an offensive threat as a screen-and-dive player, and helping his teammates by putting the defense on its heels with movement.
You can’t put a defense on its heels, in 2016, with an entry pass into a skilled big man in the low post. That’s just not how the game works.
The fear from here is how Howard will work with Hawks point guard Dennis Schroeder, a still-developing scorer whose best move still appears to be that part where he takes in a quick pick and drives to his right and runs to the hoop as fast as he possibly can. The Hawks agreed to deal former All-Star Jeff Teague – a reasonable point man who worked through injury last season – prior to the NBA draft, cutting their losses 12 months before Teague’s eventual free agent turn.
And a week before Howard, who would seem to work well with Teague, surprisingly agreed to come home to Atlanta. The pairing with Schroeder, as a result, is a bit of a worry. From Jesus Gomez at SB Nation:
Schroder used the pick-and-roll more often than any other set to score, according to Synergy Sports. Now he will play with a center who isn’t happy just being a dive man. The spacing will be compromised with Howard parked in the paint, which might give Schroder the excuse to abuse his mid-range jumper like he has at times in the past. His three-point shot is inconsistent and he’s always looked disengaged when he’s been off the ball, but he might be asked to be a floor-spacer more often than before.
If the old version of Schroder shows up next season, the Hawks could be in trouble. Of course, it’s entirely possible that he evolves. He’s 22 years old, after all, and has never been a starting point guard. Maybe some of the tendencies that make him a bad match with Howard are the result of his role as a scorer off the bench. If he gets cleaner looks from outside, his percentage might climb.
That doesn’t seem all that likely but it’s much more realistic than expecting Howard to change at this point in his career. Despite leading the league in post touches last season, he has been complaining about a lack of involvement in the Houston Rockets’ offense all summer. Coach after coach has tried to get him to buy into setting screens and rolling hard to the rim, but he simply doesn’t want to do that. When he doesn’t get his shots, he stops trying on defense. Atlanta needs to keep Howard happy, which is not easy.
In short – the back might not be the problem, even if it were a problem. Which Dwight Howard says it isn’t.
Yet another chance for redemption, this time at home. Here’s hoping Dwight can make it all that way back.
(OK, I meant to write that one.)
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
