Dwight Howard and 5 Players Who Did the Most Damage to Their Image in 2012

The 2011-12 season was full of memorable performances, classic matchups and some absolutely ridiculous moments.

From the Dwight Howard saga in Orlando to Amar'e Stoudemire losing a fight with a fire extinguisher, this year was full of some head-scratching moments that certainly impacted the way the public views a handful of players.

While some players managed to do irreversible damage to their image, a select few will be able to undo the damage done this past season.  

Ahead is a list of five players who damaged their image in 2012.

Honorable Mention: Dexter Pittman

The main reason why Dexter Pittman is only an honorable mention on this list is because no one really cares about Pittman.

Giving Lance Stephenson a forearm shiver to the throat was a gutless and uncalled for act, but it doesn't really matter in the long-term scheme of things because he didn't have an image to damage to begin with.

If any NBA player with a legitimate reputation would have done what Pittman did to Stephenson, legitimate backlash would have ensued.  Lucky for Pittman, though, no one actually cares what he does on the court. 

Metta World Peace

There can't be a list of players who've done serious damage to their image without Metta World Peace kicking it off.

If getting a seven-game suspension for throwing a UFC-caliber elbow to the side of James Harden's head wasn't enough, World Peace went on to say that he wouldn't reconcile his heinous act with Harden.

When asked whether he was planning on trying to reconcile his elbow with Harden, World Peace responded by saying, "I don't shake substitutes' hands."

If that all wasn't bad enough World Peace recently tweeted this lovely message to all his Twitter followers, "happy labor day ... enjoy it."  Either World Peace thought it was early September, or he has no idea what the difference is between Labor Day and Memorial Day.

This year, World Peace took his already tarnished public image and threw it off a cliff.  Then he went and found it and lit it on fire.  

Lamar Odom

Lamar Odom had a tumultuous year to say the least.

While he tarnished his image by the way he played in Dallas—with no enthusiasm, energy or motivation—he tarnished his imagine the most when he demanded a trade from the team that he spent most of his career with.

Once Odom heard that the Lakers were entertaining the idea of sending him to New Orleans in the David Stern-nixed Chris Paul Trade, Odom demanded a trade from the Lakers.

The fact that Odom couldn't deal with the fact that the Lakers wanted to trade him is pretty ridiculous.  I understand the feelings of betrayal, but the fact is that he was getting payed $8.9 million to play a game for a living.

When a professional athlete starts making trade demands for no real reason it certainly hurts his image, and the way Odom handled his offseason situation with the Lakers did just that.  Odom might want to return to L.A., but even if he does, he'll have to do some repair work to his public image.  

Kevin Love

Kevin Love being on this list might seem out of place at first glance, but let me remind you of the one stomp heard "round the world."

The Minnesota Timberwolves were playing the Houston Rockets, and there was some physical play between Kevin Love and Luis Scola going down.  Love got hacked on one end by Scola but the referees, as usual, turned a blind eye to it—so Love decided to take matters into his own hands.

On the other end, Love fouled Scola, and in doing so sent Scola to the ground.  As Love turned to go back down the court he located Scola's face and gave it a firm stomp as he trotted back down the court.

Love only got suspended for two games, but in all honesty, his foul seemed just as intentional as Metta World Peace's elbow on James Harden.

A lot of people might've forgotten about Love's stomp to Scola's face, but I sure didn't.  When you watch the video of the event taking place there's no doubt that when the video ends you'll think a little less of Kevin Love. 

Amar'e Stoudemire

Come on.  You had to see this one coming.

You can't just play terribly and nearly end your NBA career by losing a fight with a fire extinguisher and expect to not make the list of players who damaged their image in 2012.

Not only did Amar'e Stoudemire fail to impress in his second year with the New York Knicks, he also embarrassed himself quite a bit when he made his hand look like a baseball by punching a fire extinguisher after a playoff loss to the Miami Heat.

Oh, and if that wasn't enough, Amar'e also thought it would be a good idea to try and bring cornrows back.

If you're questioning just how bad of an idea cornrows are check out this Amar'e meme that will explain it all pretty clearly for you.  The bad news is that Amar'e is never going to be able to live down his 2011-12 season.  It was a very, very bad year.  

Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard is at the top of the list of players who did some serious damage to their image in 2012.

Let's just take a minute and look at all of the boneheaded things D12 did this past season.

1.  Before the start of the 2011-12 season, D12 reportedly demanded a trade from the Orlando Magic.  If this is where things would've stayed, everything with D12 would've been fine.

2.  Next, Howard developed a four-team wish list that included the only teams that he wanted to be traded to, which in turn put the Magic in a difficult situation.  

3.  Howard then went back and forth for some time on whether he wanted to be traded before the deadline, which put stress not only on the Magic front office, but also on his teammates.

4.  After D12 decided to opt-in for the final year of his contract, reports came out that he wanted head coach Stan Van Gundy fired—which happened after the Magic were eliminated from the 2012 playoffs. 

5.  Now, with all of that having transpired, Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Howard regrets opting in and wants to be traded once again.

I'm sure I missed a thing or two, but everything that Howard's done has certainly done serious damage to his image.  In some respects, the way he's handled his situation in Orlando might have done more damage than he can bounce back from.