Dwight Howard wasn’t exactly receptive to criticism during his season with the Lakers, constructive or otherwise. He resisted playing the pick-and-roll offense that Mike D’Antoni wanted to run, and instead wanted more touches in the post, where the results were mixed at best.
Howard is attempting to improve his play down low by working out with Hakeem Olajuwon, whom the team hired for that express purpose following the signing of Howard in free agency.
While Howard was reportedly attentive and engaged throughout the workout session with Olajuwon and Kevin McHale, there still appears to be a certain level of resistance embedded somewhere in his psyche.
From Jason Friedman of Rockets.com:
Setting aside for a moment that Howard’s analogy makes zero sense -- Michael Jordan, of course, was a shooting guard, while Olajuwon and McHale had Hall of Fame careers playing the same positions as Howard -- this is either Howard trying to keep expectations low, or a sign that he still doesn’t get it.
There’s no reason not to try and emulate two of the greatest big men of all time, unless ego is getting in the way. Howard’s history would suggest that might be a possibility.
There’s more to it, obviously, and we won’t know how much Howard was willing to embrace until we see if he’s improved offensively during the regular season. The entire piece is well-written and definitely worth a read -- though as a fair warning, Lakers fans may suffer vision loss from the extreme rolling of the eyes that may occur while digesting the article’s contents.
