Haven’t had your fill of Dwight Howard drama yet?
I’m kidding. I know we all have. We’re all weary of him and his off-the-court spectacle, weary of the discussion of how he got to Houston (or left Los Angeles, if you prefer). We’re sick of the endless image battle — we just want to see him play basketball and not talk about the rest of it.
But there is more behind-the-scenes Dwight Howard drama coming.
He is getting his own documentary, reports Sara Eckert at CSNHouston.com.Dwight Howard has teamed with EPIX to offer an exclusive look into his life and path to becoming a megastar. A big part of the original documentary, EPIX Presents Dwight Howard: In the Moment, includes footage of Howard during his recruitment and decision to come to Houston, so that should be of particular interest to Rockets fans. It will also retrace his youth and career path and will help answer the question, ‘who is the real Dwight Howard?’
“The 2013/14 season is a pivotal year in my professional career,” Howard said. “I am excited about being a Houston Rocket and grateful for the opportunity to be seen in an in-depth manner. I am happy to be working with the EPIX team, including award-winning documentarian, Ross Greenburg.”
I think we can all agree that Howard is right about something — this is a pivotal year in his career.
For the past couple seasons he has worked to get out of situations he didn’t like in a rather awkward fashion, which when combined with a legitimate injury that knocked his game back a couple of steps made Howard easy to dislike.
It’s really simple now for Howard — he has to win in Houston. He made the right basketball move, but he has been a guy that shrunk in the face of adversity. Well, there is going to be adversity in making this all work in Houston and he has to fight through it. There is no way out now, this is it.
I’ll make this as plain as I can: The best way to solve image issues is just to win. Go ask Kobe Bryant or LeBron James about it. Howard is never going to be universally loved but he can flip his image with a lot of people by simply playing up to his potential and winning games. And eventually winning a lot of playoff games.
The documentary could be interesting if we get to see Howard struggle with the coming adversity. But if this is all just him playing video games and acting like he doesn’t have a care in the world, then I’ve got better things to do with my time.
