Dwight Howard wants to be a 3-point shooter. At least, that's what he said on The Doug Gottlieb Show on CBS Sports Radio on Monday. When Gottlieb asked the Atlanta Hawks center a tongue-in-cheek question about moving out to the 3-point line like Paul Millsap, Howard responded as if this was a real possibility.
"Actually it's something that we all work on every day in practice," Howard said. "You know what, it's going to happen. It's the beginning of the season. Right now, have to make sure that I do a really good job of trying to get every offensive rebound that I can, get every defensive rebound and just be competitive on the defensive end. And the offensive stuff will come. I do want to shoot some 3s, I think that it would just expand everything for myself and for this team. But right now this team needs me to dominate the paint."
Honestly, I can't tell if he's being serious or not. In October, Howard said that he was taking mid-range jump shots seriously and wanted to be a threat away from the basket. That was believable -- he has tried that at various points in his career, but never stuck with it.
Part of the reason I'm having trouble buying this is that, in the same interview, Howard told Gottlieb that he pranked his mother by informing her he'd signed with the Utah Jazz on the first day of free agency. It was only when she started crying that he told her he'd actually signed his his hometown Hawks.
If he is being genuine, though, then he should probably slow down. Start small. Make a couple of shots from 12 feet, then try 18 feet, then, maybe, have a look at the 3-point line. Right now, Howard is 1 for 6 on the season on field-goal attempts outside of eight feet. More and more big men are shooting 3s now, but that doesn't mean everyone needs to.
