Houston Rockets Are Being Miscast as NBA's New 'Heel' Team

With the rage directed at Dwight Howard, James Harden and general manager Daryl Morey, the Houston Rockets have become favorite enemies of the modern NBA—even if they don't deserve to be.

Howard's negative reputation needs little introduction. He's seen as having whined his way out of his franchise role with the Orlando Magic and being too sensitive to withstand the consistently harsh critiques that went with playing for Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers. He's also widely known for his adolescent antics in the locker room, including an overgrown penchant for flatulence. Howard's become an easy target.

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Harden, the formerly beloved sixth man of the Oklahoma City Thunder, is now clowned on for his lack of defensive concentration and often criticized for being a ball-stopper and foul-hawker. Under the brighter lights of superstar responsibility, Harden's viewers have looked past his dazzling open-court play and charming beard to find flaws worth underlining over and over.

And Morey, the man who brought the two together, is twinned with Philadelphia 76ers GM Sam Hinkie (a former employee of Morey) as the face of a sort of moral decay in team management. As Grantland's Andrew Sharp puts it, Morey is often cited for "treating players like assets instead of humans."

But like a lot of the Rockets' PR scabs, this isn't exactly true. In lieu of his failed play at conjuring a superstar trio of Harden, Howard and Chris Bosh this summer, Morey went about solving some personality issues on his roster. Chandler Parsons, Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin were all discontent with their changing, often-minimized roles in Houston, and now they're gone.

"

Dwight Howard said he was really sad to see Lin, Parsons and Asik go. But says it's 'all about H-Town' now.

— Jenny Dial Creech (@jennydialcreech) September 27, 2014"

In their place are a slew of new role players happy to fall in line behind Howard and Harden.

Trevor Ariza, who replaces Parsons on the wing, looks happy to join his two superstars in the mission to prove skeptics wrong. Ariza's average annual $8 million salary (a big-time bargain for Houston and about half of what Parsons is now making) was set by a market that seemed to believe he only played like an invaluable rotation player for the Washington Wizards because he was playing for money in a contract year.

"At this point," SB Nation's Tom Ziller wrote at midseason, "that old joke about certain players and contract years is unavoidable with Ariza." Now Ariza looks like an indispensable scrapper for Houston, joining point guard Patrick Beverley to create a tenacious perimeter defense that makes life easier for every Rocket.

Bill Baptist/Getty Images

And not a peep of real complaining has been heard from Howard in Houston. He's been focused on returning to his Defensive Player of the Year form. And if his perimeter defenders weren't so lax in 2013-14, many would've had an easier time noticing that Howard's still got it.

Lost amid all the frantic recovery defense he was forced to perform last year is the truth that D12 is still a phenomenal, frightening athlete who never gives up on a defensive possession.

And while Harden's defensive laziness was a real issue last season, he's publicly noted as much and has looked miles better in recent days. The video montages of Harden's missed coverage are likely to haunt him forevermore, but those giving him an honest shot know that The Beard is just 25 and still improving and learning on every level as a player.

The Rockets look to have taken their criticism in perhaps the best way they can: as fuel. The newest edition of Houston basketball is an edgy, driven campaign off to a 3-0 start (now 4-0 after Monday's victory over the 76ers). The Rockets haven't had the toughest of opening schedules—but they also haven't looked even remotely challenged yet.

For the Rockets to be likable again—as they were during Harden's first year with the team, 2012-13—they'll have to show a certain resilience to the digs taken at them, something otherwise phrased as "character."

Persistence in the face of doubt will, in time, hopefully win Houston some deserved empathy. Flawed as the Rockets are, the NBA's audience will judge them within their typically meritocratic code if they do one thing enough: win. They deserve to be judged by their play.

Following Howard's latest scuffle with Bryant, he seemed to understand this tenet. When poked for a reaction to their beef, Dwight replied, per the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen, "What do you want me to say? Because I'm not going to give you nothing. That's stupid. We won the game. It's over with. There's no need to go into it. We won the game. It's about basketball. It's over. It's nothing. I'm not even focused on it."

If you make like Dwight and step back far enough to wipe the slate and let the negative narratives about the Rockets fade away, what you'll see is a serious, talented team on a mission.

Houston's main storyline in 2014-15 is redemption.