Dwightmare: Alternate Reality Edition – What would have happened if David Stern never vetoed the Pau Gasol trade? If Chris Paul had gone to the Lakers? If we were spinning forward in a new time stream a la J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek? NBA.com’s David Aldridge slipped through the wormhole (the “singularity” for you Trekkers) and found out:
JULY 10, 2013
LOS ANGELES — Dwight Howard could not contain his glee. The smile that had disappeared from his face for the last two years had returned. Standing alongside his new teammates, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul, and with a tanned, rested and ready coach Phil Jackson by his side, Howard announced “there’s a new sheriff in town,” putting a Lakers cap on his head and ushering in what promises to be the next great era of Lakers basketball.
The lesson, as always: Father Stern Knows Best. Your move, Adam Silver.
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One – ESPN’s Israel Gutierrez compares Dwight’s move to LeBron’s decision two years ago, pointing out the similarities in the criticism each man has endured. The most fascinating statements in Dwight’s defense against his critics came from his old coach, Stan Van Gundy:
“He led the league in rebounding. What did he do? The ball just came to him? A lot of it just doesn’t add up.”
Stan Van Gundy wasn’t surprised at Shaq’s comments, saying O’Neal is “unnaturally obsessed with Dwight.” And he expected any Lakers fan to agree with Shaq.
“That story was written already,” Stan said. “If he decided not to come back to L.A., that was going to be the story they wrote. Because for Laker fans, it’s tough to admit the other side, which is, somebody could look at their team and see a team that’s not going in a positive direction.
“What, exactly, other than the extra $30 million [that the Lakers could have offered over other suitors], would’ve been the reason to pick L.A. over the other teams?”
Opportunity Cost - ESPN reports that the Rockets’ comments on Dwight’s decision cost the team a $150,000 fine. Well, fine.
Attaboy – Not only is Isaiah Canaan the Rockets’ only draft pick this year, a prolific scorer and a deep, deep range shooter, he is also a nice guy. He gave up his starting spot on at Murray State for one game so that a hometown walk-on could have his moment in the sun.
Summer League Latest - The Rockets smoked the Jazz 85-71 in a very unremarkable game in which no Rocket scored more than 11 points or grabbed more than 7 rebounds. Terrence Jones had the closest thing to a remarkable day with 3 blocks, but offset them with a putrid 1-7 from the floor and 4-8 from the line.
Can’t Get Enough – Over at SI.com, Ben Golliver has what is probably the most exhaustive list of quotes and links on the internet about Dwight’s decision. Putting off that thing at work? This link is for you.
Got any sweet links or suggestions? Email them to [email protected] or message me on Twitter @EbyNews.
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