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| 'Transfer me your powers, Kobe!' (Getty Images) |
While Dwight Howard has seemingly worked pretty hard to ruin his reputation with trade demands, various comments and undermining coaches over the past two years, he hasn't shown the same focus and drive we credited him with having during the first six years of his career. Since finding his way off the Orlando Magic and onto the Los Angeles Lakers, Howard has gone from hoping to be a title contender to having title expectations.
Looking back at his career and seeing some seemingly immature behavior by Howard, it makes me wonder if he's ever had the proper veterans on his team to help him learn the right ways to be a superstar and keep him in line with working hard and remaining focused on the ultimate goal of winning a championship. Now that he's on the Lakers and playing with Kobe Bryant, he seems to have the proper role model to pattern his work ethic and routine after.
Asked if his perception of Kobe has changed over the last month or so, Howard said no.
"Not at all. Me and Kobe have been cool for years. We've talked. He told me what he did when he had problems. I see it for myself now. It's not just something that we've talked about. When we talked on the phone, he was always saying 'I get in the gym and shoot 5,000 shots' or whatever it may be, so to see it shows me how dedicated he is."
The dedication pays off not just in physical improvement, but mental, Howard said.
"I always tell him, 'I'm afraid to miss. When I get out there, I don't want to miss, and I end up missing.' And he was like: 'You know what? Shoot 1,000 jumpshots a day. You're going to miss a lot of those shots. But that's OK. Because you're teaching yourself it's OK to miss.'"
When Howard came into the NBA, he joined a team with Grant Hill (trying to fight through chronic ankle issues) and Steve Francis as the two best players and veterans on the team. Three years later, Howard was the complete focus of the team and Maurice Evans was the oldest player (29) getting regular minutes.
You could argue that Howard never truly learned how to work to be great in the NBA because he never had that one singular role model on the roster. Sure, he had Patrick Ewing as an assistant coach for a significant chunk of his days with the Magic, but he never had a player in the proverbial trenches with him to teach him how to be great. He simply had to learn most of that through trial and error.
After playing for a few months with guys like Bryant and Steve Nash, he's learning the proper focus to move toward playing at a championship level.
Howard said mentally, he made a shift at the All-Star break.
"I stayed in the hotel and just thought about the first half of the season and what I could do better. How I could be better for our team," he said. "I just told myself, 'I'm going to commit myself to being better for the second half of the season.'"
Since, he's changed his diet (no sugar, meals consisting basically of "Whole Foods. Whatever they got on the menu."), gained a greater willingness to do what's asked of him, even outside his comfort zone, and -- this really shouldn't be overlooked -- is feeling better physically following offseason back surgery.
The results since the All-Star break?
Howard's numbers before the All-Star break were 16.3 points, 11.8 rebounds, 57.8 percent from the field and 49.5 percent from the free throw line. His scoring (15.4), field goal percentage (55.1 percent) and free throw percentage (41.3 percent) have all dipped since the break but his rebounding has jumped considerably (14.1 per game).
The team defense with Howard on the court has significantly improved since the All-Star break as well. Before the break, the Lakers had a defensive rating of 102.1 points per 100 possessions when Howard was in the game. It was decent enough but it wasn't franchise-changing like many expected it to be when the Lakers acquired him this past summer. Since the All-Star break, the Lakers are giving up just 99.9 points per 100 possessions with Howard in the game.
The Lakers have had good offensive numbers for much of the season, so they badly needed Howard to get back to being the three-time Defensive Player of the Year that he used to be in Orlando. With him taking his diet more seriously and that helping him be his healthiest since returning from back surgery, you can start to see the results of Howard's improved focus.
The Lakers are 7-2 during this stretch, back over .500 for the first time since Nov. 20, and quickly closing in on the eighth seed in the Western Conference. This is what the Lakers have been waiting to see from Howard.
