Dwight Howard's Image Rehab: Step 1, Stop Talking About the Past

Dwight Howard is finally starting to get it.

In a short conversation with reporters, the Houston Rockets center sounded nothing like the man who skipped out of Hollywood just a few months ago. He'll face the Los Angeles Lakers in Houston on Nov. 7 for the first time since leaving L.A., and when he does battle with his former team, he'll take the floor with a more mature, forward-looking attitude.

Check out the clip here, via the Los Angeles Times:

For the first time in his career, he's willing to let bygones be bygones.

Moving On

This is a new development for Howard, who was all too happy to dredge up the past while he was with the Lakers. In a March 2013 interview with CBS' Kristine Leahy, he buried former Orlando Magic teammates as a way to pump himself up:

“And I always tell people: Hey, my team in Orlando was a team full of people who nobody wanted, and I was the leader and I led that team with a smile on my face."

Congratulations, Dwight. You're a hero.

Compare that PR blunder with the way Howard responded in November 2013 when asked about his feeling on L.A. and what the Lakers could have done to retain him, per Melissa Rohlin of the Los Angeles Times:

"

Howard said he hasn't looked back since deciding to leave Los Angeles. In fact, when a reporter asked him if the Lakers could have done anything differently to keep him, Howard seemed a bit frustrated.

"Listen, it's over with man," he said. "Like I'm already out of there. There's no reason to talk about what the Lakers could have did. I made my decision and I'm living with it. I'm happy with where I'm at. I'm in a great place.

"I think everybody should move forward. It's over with. This is my life, you know what I'm saying. If you don't like it, so what."

"

Basically, Howard got a batting practice fastball—the question about what L.A. could have done to keep him—and instead of taking a rip at it, the more mature big man let it sail by.

Howard's personal growth isn't just about his willingness to leave the past behind. That's the most noticeable change, but it's really just part of his larger maturation process.

Note his demeanor in that interview clip. In some parts, he's clearly a little embarrassed about how easily he let off-court distractions affect his play. In others, he appears visibly uncomfortable with—and even a little exhausted by—questions about the Lakers.

What you're seeing in that clip is a man feeling the first unfamiliar pricklings of self-awareness in his life.

Howard now understands that not every question presents an opportunity for self-aggrandizement. He's finally coming to understand that not every interview requires him to goof off, grouse or play the victim in an effort to attract attention.

It's a small change, but it means a lot for Howard, who is only in the initial stages of repairing the public image he destroyed.

He'll get a major test when he plays the Lakers on Thursday, as the media will poke and prod him in hopes of goading him into a sound bite. Maybe he'll take the bait. Maybe he'll sound off on Mike D'Antoni, bring up Phil Jackson or crack jokes at the Lakers' expense. Maybe he'll smile too much on the court and then dig his PR hole even deeper in the postgame press conference.

Based on his track record, all of those possibilities are in play.

Or maybe he'll maintain the same mature, above-it-all attitude he's been showing lately. Maybe he'll stay focused on the present instead of exhuming the past.

If he manages to make it through the media gauntlet without stuffing both feet in his mouth, Howard still won't be entirely out of the woods. He'll have to face the Lakers three more times this season, with two contests in Los Angeles on Feb. 19 and April 8 that are sure to be public-relations minefields.

Get Happy

The major takeaway from Howard's most recent comments is that he's happy. In possession of a new contract and playing for a team that profiles as a championship contender, he's justified in feeling good. And it probably doesn't hurt that his health has finally returned.

As much as anything, Howard's physical recovery after a year of playing in pain has allowed him to lower his guard. His rough season in L.A. was marked as much by a torn-up shoulder and lingering back pain as it was by locker-room strife, but it taught D12 that he was human.

Now that he's back to looking like the athletic specimen that won three Defensive Player of the Year awards, it's easy to understand why he's able to appreciate his position.

Nobody denies Howard made a mess of things in Orlando and Los Angeles. But he can't do anything about his previous missteps now. He can only focus on making the best of his present situation, which is precisely what he's doing.

Howard is trying to rehabilitate his image, and like any recovering addict, he's going to slip up occasionally. At any moment, his clownish, egotistical behavior could resurface. But at least we know that he's making an effort to avoid the mistakes of his past—mostly by refusing to discuss them.

That's not denial; that's a step in the right direction.