Morning Wrap: GA Police Reopen Child Abuse Investigation of Dwight Howard

((ht: wsbtv.com))

Cobb County (GA) Police are reopening a child abuse complaint lodged against Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard. Howard is from the Atlanta area.

The original complaint was investigated by Florida's DCF. We are assuming it's because that is where Royce Reed, the child's mother lives. Reed says Howard's  the 6-11 Rockets center went too far in disciplining the 7-year old child while visiting friends in Cobb County, just north of Atlanta.

Police told Atlanta TV station WSB they reopened the case that had been closed after an investigation in early October because some new information had been discovered. They did not tell the station what the information was.

The station also says the investigation is likely to be fast and not require Howard to show up and be interviewed.

Interesting. We wonder if this is being brought to light due to the Adrian Peterson situation. It does not sound, at least on the surface quite that serious. But it's very hard to tell.

Howard's attorney makes it sound like the mother, Royce Reed is seeking attention and trying to make Howard's life difficult. But if police are at least devoting resources and following up their initial investigation, they must feel like the possibility of there being something to the allegations may actually exist.

Your TV story from wsbtv.com:

Mark Cuban's Sales Pitch To Dwight Howard, It Ends With Global Domination

[HT: blogmaverick.com]

Mark Cuban is used to listening to sales pitches, you see it weekly on the ABC-TV show Shark Tank.

The tables turned last month with Cuban trying to sell his franchise, the Dallas Mavericks to the most prized free agent in the NBA, Dwight Howard.

Cuban revealed his sales pitch to Howard in a blog Cuban writes for Mavs fans.

Here's a snippet:

Let me address here the inevitable question of Dwight vs Mavs culture.  We saw it as somewhat of a risk, but felt like because Dwight by all appearances and checking we did,  is a good guy and with our support systems we believed we could make it work.  if not, he was obviously a very trade-able asset.  But, as everyone knows, we didn’t sign him. He went to the Rockets.  I do have to say the meeting with Dwight was very interesting. He is a smart guy. Much smarter than people give him credit for. He is also a very, very good listener.  Unlike most people, he spent far more time listening than talking.  And he had the best response to an opening question that I have ever heard from a player, or anyone for that matter.  When we asked him what his goal was, his response was very specific ” I want to be Epic” .  Which was a perfect lead in to the video we created for him

And here is said video:




Cuban went on the say that he has no regrets regarding his sales pitch to Howard.

Of course Dwight Howard's response to Cuban, "I'm out." 

But he did stay in Texas, only in Houston.

Reports: Twitter Explodes Over Dwight Howards "Decision"--He'll Sign With The Rockets (UPDATED)

((UPDATE--Reports are circulating the Rockets are also on the verge of a "Sign-and-trade" deal with the Atlanta Hawks for Josh Smith. If that does take place, it would change some of the issues brought up below. Yes, it would make the Rockets the "Team to Beat" in the NBA West))

So. Can we say that possibly the most over-hyped sports story of the July 4th weekend will revolve around soon-to-be Houston Rockets center Dwight "Cry-baby" Howard?

Multiple reports say the mercurial 27-year old has decided to leave the Los Angeles Lakers and take his talents to Houston. We might mention that the Rockets have gone to great lengths this offseason to clear salary space by jettisoning multiple players and are looking to get rid of a few more players.

Howard in Houston would team with the talented James Harden, forward Chandler Parsons and a few "other guys" to give the Rockets the appearance of a "title" team.

Don't believe it.

Sure, they may compete, and really, outside Oklahoma City and maybe San Antonio and now probably the Los Angeles Clippers and possibly the Golden State Warriors, there's not a ton of teams who can compete for an NBA title. (Okay, so I named 4-others)

No, we aren't fans of Howard, whom we know from his days as a fairly likeable kid playing ball at SW Atlanta Christian School. But somewhere between there and the end of his run with the Orlando Magic, he turned into the prototypical "Spoiled-Brat" athlete.

And no, don't feel sorry for the LA Lakers, whose "Max" offer has been spurned. They knew going in that Howard could be a 1-year rental and that turned out to be true.

Sure, he may be a "Savior" for the decent, but not great Rockets, and we have no doubt he'll lead them to the playoffs, but when his "Contract" is up or if they don't win a title, which Dwight will they get? The "fun-loving", kid-friendly guy who wants to be part of a good team or the "me-first", find me a coach who runs an offense I like-guy whom he seems to have become....

Report: Did The Atlanta Hawks Violate Tampering Policy? (UPDATE: Yup, They Did...)

((ht: ajc.com))

Well, that's another fine mess the marketing department may have made.

According to a report Tuesday afternoon in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Atlanta Hawks sent a letter to possible season-ticket buyers that mentions the possibility of the team acquiring Dwight Howard and Chris Paul.

Problem is: It may have violated the NBA Anti-Tampering policy since it apparently while both are pending "Free-Agents" they apparently can't be mentioned as targets by the team until after July 1st.

It's not July 1st. (at least not as of this posting date)

The paper says neither the Hawks nor the NBA will comment about it, but mentioning players by name before July 1st has been a big "No-No" in NBA circles. It's cost the Hawks and other teams a good bit of money in the past.

Read the entire AJC.com story explaining it RIGHT HERE

We kind of feel bad for the Hawks, but this is sort of funny. They have an incredible penchant for doing stuff that most teams know not to do. It doesn't appear, at least based on the report, that the team upper management was aware of this, but they should have been.

And if they didn't, well, that's a pretty big front office failure. While it would be nice to say "Marketing went rogue", the assumption should be nothing goes out without the boss's approval.

And certainly the Atlanta Spirit would operate like that...

Would they?

MONDAY UPDATE: The Hawks were fined an undisclosed amount for violating the anti-tampering policy.

The NBA is saying that three teams violated the policy- just not saying who it was.
The Rockets were reportedly another team that was guilty.

In a statement to the AJC last week, Hawks president Bob Williams said, “The (first) letter that has been referred to was written by one of our season-ticket reps of his own volition. While certainly he is a member of our business staff, his specific reference clearly does not represent how our basketball operations or our business staff have consistently communicated about free agency. It is unfortunate that this mistake, by a single ticket rep with no ill intent, occurred.”


Deadspin is reporting that is was former first-round draft pick Cal Bowdler who sent the e-mail blast...

ICYMI: Spurs End Lakers Misery in 4 Straight

We normally steer clear of reporting on 1st Round NBA Playoff series because,well, the NBA Playoffs last for 3 months.

But we couldn't resist this story.

The San Antonio Spurs did exactly what they were supposed to do and swept the over-hyped Los Angeles Lakers 4-0 in their best of 7 series.

The series ended after the Spurs annihilated the Lakers 103-82 on the Lakers home court Sunday evening.

The game featured Laker Cry-baby Dwight Howard getting ejected after 2 technical fouls and the rest of the team being woefully out-manned.

We also bring this up because the deities that rule the national sports airways deemed the Lakers "Competition for the Miami Heat". We deeemed them old, and losers in the 1st round of the playoffs. Back in July of last year, when they picked up 37-year old Steve Nash. To play with 36-year old Kobe Bryant and 35-year old Metta World Artest.

Really, we just wanted to remind everyone that we predicted this, it was no surprise to us and even further proof that just because you have a lot of aging superstars doesn't automatically make you a title contender.

Opinion: Non-Major City Teams IGNORED (Hawks Beat Lakers, Nobody Mentions It)

As someone who doesn't live in New York, LA, Boston, Chicago or Philadelphia, I get really annoyed these days trying to watch a Sports TV Network or read a big time Sports Website.

Why you ask?

Because they all but ignore teams that don't play in the above cities.

Sure, they pay attention to Oklahoma City because Kevin Durant plays there. And they slobber over the Dallas Cowboys, because they are the Dallas Cowboys and will pay attention to the Philadelphia Eagles, well, because they are a big city not far from New York.

But by and large they ignore the rest of the country.

And my example of this....happened Wednesday night.

The Atlanta Hawks played the Los Angeles Lakers in Atlanta. The Hawks were without 2 of their best players, Josh Smith and Jeff Teague, the Lakers were coming off a win against the pitiful Orlando Magic. Oh, and the world....ESPN in particular proclaimed "The Lakers are Back" after Dwight Howard shot 39 free throws against the moronic Magic defense.



Well, the Hawks beat the Lakers Wednesday night, but you'd never know it watching or reading the morning match ups.

No, the only thing mentioned, highlights of the Lakers and Kobe Bryant got hurt.

For the record, Bryant was hurt trying to land after missing a jump shot, he landed on the foot of Hawks guard Dhantay Jones and sprained his ankle.



The highlights I saw this morning. Kobe shooting jumpers. Dwight Howard (Lakers) struggling to score. Kobe getting hurt. Kobe whining that Jones tried to hurt him. Kobe whining "Shooters should be Protected". (No, they shouldn't)

That was it.

No mention of the undermanned Hawks. No mention of them playing a good team game. No mention of the Lakers not being as good as advertised. And then an attack on Jones. And now the National Reporters are convinced Jones tried to hurt Bryant.

What Jones did isn't against the rules guys. Sorry. It may not be the cleanest move, but its done....frequently. Basketball is a game where you get hurt. From time to time you land on people's feet. If this happened to ANYONE else, it wouldn't even get a mention.

**NOTE**---We predicted the Lakers would SUCK last year, and explained why back in July of last year.  You can read it RIGHT HERE

Honestly though, this isn't directed specifically at a particular team. Just coverage in general.

Yeah, some of it is bitterness because when I worked in local TV, they used the "ESPN" excuse as one of the many reasons they didn't need a Sports Department. No, ESPN, CBSSportsNetwork or the NBCSportsNetwork don't pay attention to lower profile teams either. Yet the perception is they do.

So in the meantime, we get endless diatribes on things like "The Greatness of Tim Tebow" or "Seth Greenburg gives his version of the 'Oscars'" or Herm Edwards talking about Danica Patrick. We get an endless stream of daily live updates from New York Yankees training camp...or the 5-11 Jets. But no mention any other teams.

And we continue to watch. Because we have no choice. Because there are no longer any other options. You will occasionally get some information on "Other" teams from smaller websites, but you have to look for it. In the meantime, much like everything else, the business continues to thrive because of the ignorant masses who don't pay attention or don't realize the Sports Cable News Networks of the world aren't pandering to them, they are pandering to the dumbest of them.

Dwight Howard Trade Official: Magic lose whiner, add whole team

Well, that's taken care of at least.

The Orlando Magic have unloaded the man/child who had become both theirs and the NBA's biggest headache.

They completed a trade Friday afternoon with 3 other teams that totaled 11 players and 5 draft picks. It essentially creates a new (albeit not very good) Magic roster and puts Howard in LA-LA Land.

It took the Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets and the Lakers to help make the trade of "Mr Whiny Bitch", who when not crying, is one of the better players in the NBA.

The Magic send Howard, Chris Duhon and Earl Clark to LA and Jason Richardson to Philadelphia. In return, they get Aaron Affalo and Al Harrington from Denver, Maurice Harkness and Nikola Vucevic from Philadelphia and Josh McRoberts along with Chrstian Eyenga from the Lakers.

Still following?

Denver then gets Andre Igoudala from Philly and the Sixers get Andrew Bynum from the Lakers.

Oh, the Magic also get 3 1st Round Picks and 3 2nd Rounders out of it too.

Tired yet?

Did we mention Howard's contract expires at the end of the 2012-13 season? Oh...he also hasn't said he will re-sign with the Lakers either. (Though we bet he will)

We guess Mr. Howard backed off his demand to go to New Jersey here. (awwww) But he now joins a rather old Lakers roster with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash on it. And though they may be old, that's a pretty imposing lineup.

The funny thing to us is in the Magic's press release, they don't name Howard by name until half way through it.

Read the Magic release RIGHT HERE

Sigh.

Sorry to say, but this is why we hate the NBA. More than baseball or football, the NBA is about big markets. Sure, the Oklahoma City Thunder are an exception, but they won't be able to keep that team together after the 1st contracts run out either.

No, instead you get talented players who turn into Spoiled Brats like Howard did, and hold there smaller market team hostage until they get to go where they want.

And quite honestly, we don't even begrudge Howard leaving for another team, it's just the way he handled it. Had he been a grown-up and handled it like a professional, we'd have little issue. But he cried and whined and made a big scene about it instead.

Anyway, it will be weird seeing him in a Laker uniform next season. Partially since we don't like the Lakers. But also because now the ONLY NBA coverage we...and everyone else will get this upcoming season is ESPN drooling over the Miami Heat and slobbering over Howard and the Lakers.

DEVELOPING...??? D-12 Deal Finally Done...??? (UPDATED)

We can only think that this is, in fact, true...

It looks like, according to Marc Stein and various other "sources" close to Stein and everyone else in Bristol, the Dwight Howard deal might be like this...

And if it is, in fact, true... we can all go back to our lives...

Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers
The Denver Nuggets will get Andre Iguodala
The Philadelphia 76ers will get Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson
The Orlando Magic will get Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic and one protected future first-round pick from the Lakers, Nuggets, and Sixers.

The Magic will be getting other bits and pieces- including this year's Number 1 pick of the 76'ers- Moe Harkless

All this is through Stein...

We can only hope... more when we know more...
ESPN discusses hyah with FOSG Chris Cotter leading the band...

According to JA Adande, through his Twitter:

Howard a Laker. Bynum will re-sign in Philly. Denver saves $15 million in 2014-15. Only team this wasn't a no-brainer for is...Orlando

The conference call with the NBA is slated for Friday morning...

Adande continues @2330: I'm retracting my Bynum re-signing with 76ers tweet. Original source clarifies to say "not sure"

Dwight Howard is a Douchebag: Trade Scenario #312

We really haven't weighed in on this and there is no "Concrete" story per say, but it is an opportunity to weigh in on the NBA's biggest (literally) con man.

Dwight Howard wants people to believe that he is a "Great" NBA Basketball player with a big heart who does tons of charitable things.

We will grant that he does a lot of charitable things.

Dwight Howard is quickly becoming the most hated player in the NBA, taking the throne from LeBron James.

And we say that after covering Howard in high school and interviewing him several times, we really thought he was a good dude who wasn't in it for the money and genuinely wanted to be liked.

We were wrong.

Sure, we get that players are entitled to make as much money as they can while they play, we get that. And that isn't an issue here.

The Orlando Magic have said many times they'd be willing to pay Howard, who when motivated can be one of the league's best players.

But he has rebuffed them at every turn and said "I won't play for you". Dwight wants to go to New York. Brooklyn to be specific. But the Nets have decided they can't trade for Howard and have moved on.

So now other suitors are trying to get the EGOMANIAC.

Now worshipping at his alter. The Houston Rockets.

The Rockets, according to Chad Ford of ESPN, are offering 4 players and 3 draft picks for Howard and a trio of expiring Magic contracts. And while we get Houston trying to land a marquee player, they would be renting Howard who says he won't sign a new deal anywhere but Brooklyn. The trade will never happen.

Why is Dwight Howard a Douchebag?

Because he has been stringing Orlando along. Because he has made it virtually impossible for them to trade him even though he says he doesn't want to play there. Because if they can't trade him, the Magic will get nothing when he walks away.

The NBA is now rife with Elite players who only want to play on teams with other Elite players. (See the Heat) And that is a BIG problem. They are enabling whiny, crybabies like Howard.

Is Howard within his rights to leave Orlando? Absolutely. We don't begrudge that. What qualifies him as a DOUCHEBAG is that he is making it virtually impossible for the Magic to trade him. What qualifies him as a DOUCHEBAG is the whining that he is the victim here.

Yeah, you got Stan Van Gundy fired. Nobody made a secret about that. Why did you feel the need to do that if you weren't going to come back and play there? Heck, Van Gundy likely would have been given the ax if you hadn't said a word. But you couldn't help yourself.

Dude, what happened to you? You were a shining example of the good things professional athletes do at one point not to long ago. And you've killed that good will. Your image now is that of the ultimate greedy bastard. And that of a whiny bitch who has been neglected and abused.

Why couldn't you do this honorably? Why can't you just say "I'm not going to return" see if you can work out a trade? You are certainly within your rights to do that. Don't say, "I want to come back to Orlando for my final season even if I'm not playing after my contract is done". If you do come back, you are going to get "Booed" out of your own building.

We just shake our collective heads here. It's unfortunate. For all of the good things that you've done in the past, Dwight, you've ruined your reputation in the span of 6-months.

Good luck in your future, you're going to need it.

Remeber this? Possibly the most awkward interview ever...

Report: Shaquille O'Neal...the Big GM (of the Magic)--updated

The Big G.M himself

((ht: espn.com/broussard))

--UPDATED STORY AT THE BOTTOM--

Huh?

The master of the mono-syllabic pun running an NBA franchise?

Really?

Well, according to ESPN.com's Chris Broussard, the Orlando Magic want to meet with the former Magic star and current TNT commentator. The reason: Apparently O'Neal has a good relationship with the whiny Dwight Howard and the Magic may believe O'Neal can help keep Howard in Orlando.

Yeah...right, we had the same reaction.

Read the ESPN.com story RIGHT HERE

Well, it never hurts to dream we suppose.

And, well, they (the Magic) might actually give O'Neal, who began his career in Orlando at least a cursory interview.

But don't believe this for a minute.

Well, no, scratch that. Considering the smart decision making the Magic ownership has made over the past couple of years, you can't rule it out. That's despite O'Neal having no management experience and no discernible talent evaluation skills.

But he'd be a heck of an interview.

We wish the "Big G.M" luck. Maybe he will get the job. And maybe he'll surprise us all and be good at it. Then again, he tried acting a few years back...and we all know how well that turned out.

UPDATE 3pm Thursday---Mr. O'Neal released a statement Thursday afternoon saying in essence he is not interested in pursuing the job. (damn!). How much fun could this have been?

Orlando...we give you your new G.M...hahahahahaha!

Magic make Van Gundy and Otis Smith disappear

Stan Van Gundy

((ht: orlandosentinel.com))

Well, you can say the Magic is gone. Or they've lost their Magic touch. Or Magic...well...nevermind.

The Orlando Magic, to the surprise of nobody have fired head coach Stan Van Gundy and agreed to a "Mutual" parting of the ways with GM Otis Smith.

We say nobody was surprised because, well, the whole Sports world saw it coming.

Van Gundy publcily feuded with egotistical Magic star player Dwight Howard. The highlight of their relationship came April 5th, when Van Gundy publicly said that he knew Howard had been lobbying team executives to fire him.

As for Smith, he's taken the blame for not being able to surround Howard, who though apparently a big egotist, is also one of the best talents in the NBA. Multiple trades and reconfiguring of the players around Howard has brought exactly no NBA titles and a moody Howard wanting to play anyplace but Orlando.

More from the Orlando Sentinel RIGHT HERE

Like we said, none of this is a surprise. Howard, who is a complete Free Agent after the upcoming season has made no secret of wanting to leave town...on the next plane. He did...allegedly...say he'd consider staying with new coaches and players.

However, the Magic do not have tons of Salary Cap flexibility and have few players that other teams would be interested in. We think that Howard will be traded so they can begin rebuilding this offseason. We may be wrong.

Van Gundy is highly regarded in the coaching biz and though he is now 0-2 with teams in Florida, expect him to eventually land another gig during the season after an NBA team fires a coach for a poor start.

As for Smith, though also highly regarded, he is going to have a tougher time. The personnel decisions he's made, such as the ill fated acquisition and eventual trade of Vince Carter, the trade of Rashard Lewis for Gilbert Arenas and other debacles, will haunt him for a long time. We wish him luck.

We also wish whomever steps in and runs this dysfunctional group a lot of luck. Although a premier talent, Dwight Howard has done nothing to enhance his reputation during the free agent song and dance over the past year. He's come across as very selfish, very egotistical and very indecisive about his potential future. It's a shame and a mess. And a mess that some coach (probably a young one) is going to have to sort out in the next few months.

Here's the infamous interview that probably sealed everybody's fate:

Stan Van Knows Dwight Howard Wants Him Gone

((HT: OrlandoSentinel/youtube))

This is about as awkward as it gets...
It's from the morning shootaround in Orlando as the Magic get ready for the Knicks


So, Dwight didn't know that Stan Van had discussed what he "knew" from the management to be true... that Howard has told the higher-ups he wants Van Gundy gone...

Orlando GM Otis Smith had to released something to try and put out the newest forest fire...

"Stan is still our coach, Dwight is still a player and this is just another chapter that's been going on since the beginning of the season. Regardless of what has been asked, Stan is still the coach of this basketball team, so that's where we are. Everyone has a role. Players play, coaches’ coach and general managers manage the process, but sometimes lines get blurred. The choices are to keep going this way or change (coaches), but what are you changing into? I think the coach has done a very good job with the team that he has. We're not playing very good basketball right now, so (Van Gundy) is frustrated."