Dwight Howard: Why D12 Has No Right Ripping Magic Teammates

Dwight Howard blasted his team's poor effort, but with so much attention around his commitment to the Magic, this approach is setting up an angry retort. Howard is in the center of the most dramatic storyline of the NBA season, sans the lockout. It is all centered around his trade demands and his confusing list.

He is right when he says,

"

"Play basketball. That's why we all get paid to do this, because we love the game and it's basketball, so why not give it your all."

"

Regardless of the trade talk that swarms around him and his team, as professionals, they must go out and compete with effort. That said, one of the first aspects of leadership, which is what Howard is supposed to be, is to recognize that your teammates may not be as strong as you. Their confidence level may not be as high, and the situation that surrounds you, may be affecting them.

Howard apparently knows this could be the case, as he mentions it in his quote:

"

"None of the--whatever, trade stuff--none of that stuff matters."

"

While one player may be able to shrug off the business at hand, another may not. Especially considering the fact that its possible that what happens with Howard effects the future of his teammates as well. 

Hedo Turkoglu is one example of a player that may be affected. He has a mammoth and nasty contract that the Magic would like to shed. It has widely been discussed that any team that acquires Howard must also take Turkoglu's contract. Now, Hedo is a veteran, so he knows the business and he's been traded before, but maybe he really doesn't want to be moved again. Maybe he knows it's going to lead to him being amnestied, and he doesn't want that either. We don't know for sure, but this and similar scenarios could be on the minds of Howard's teammates.

Some players could feel as though Howard leaving reduces their motivation because they know the team will not compete on the same level without him.

Do they need to shake it off? Absolutely, but when the person causing the issue is telling you to shake it off, that can easily be negatively received.

Leading a team is about recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of those around you and motivating them to maximize on their strengths and pushing them away from their weaknesses. How do these comments do either?

They don't.

Lastly, and possibly most eye-popping, was this aspect of the statement:

"

If you don't want to play, stay home. People work too hard. I want to win a championship. I work too hard every night for anybody to not want to go out there and play hard"

"

A Magic player could easily question Howard about his desire to win a championship. Howard has the horrible New Jersey Nets on his list, and sources have said they are his preference.

Despite the fact that the Magic have been very good this year (12-7, sixth in the East) despite this recent swoon that has seen them blown out twice in a row. If winning a championship is paramount, how could he be pining for a move to a team that will be arguably worse than the one he's on, even when he gets there?

Does he believe that he and Deron Williams and a group of castoffs is much better than the current Magic team? The only players of note that would be in New Jersey, were Howard to be traded, would be Howard, Williams and probably Kris Humphries.

That's a nice start, but it certainly isn't much better than the Magic are now.

Howard's trade demands "still stands" despite the team winning, but the moment the team starts to really struggle, he's calling out teammates? The Magic were 6-3 on January 8th when Howard said his demands hadn't changed. The Nets were 2-7. That just doesn't seem right to me, and it is something that teammates could call him on.

As I said before, players should be professional amidst distractions, but it's a bit hypocritical when the distraction is delivering the sobering comments.