Dwight Howard Must Earn Back Teammate's Respect

The good news for the Orlando Magic is that the Dwight Howard saga finally came to an end with Howard still wearing an Orlando uniform.

Off the court that means ticket sales and happy customers.

The bad news is that Howard has a long ways to go in order to repair his now damaged image.

On the court, where it matters the most, Howard has caused a ton of damage over the course of the past four months. That's the damage that he must repair, and quickly.

While there's no doubting Howard's talent, there's nothing but doubts about his maturity. It's that immaturity that could cost Howard and the Magic down the line. Until Howard earns back the respect of his teammates, the Magic won't make a serious run anytime soon.

From his teammates perspective, Howard pretty much had one foot out the door the entire season and was quick to criticize them and even demand replacements.

Howard wants to be "the guy".

He wants to be the leader.

But to be a leader, you have to be respected by your peers. They are what lend legitimacy to leadership.

Howard's teammates aren't going to give that back to him. He will have to earn it back.

It will not be an easy task, but Howard can start by looking in the mirror.

Improving his free-throw percentage would go a long way to earning respect.

Overall though, Howard has to show that he wants to focus on winning basketball 100 percent of the time rather than basking in the limelight off the court.

He won't get the respect of his teammates back until he does, and the Magic won't be serious contenders until he does.