When Will Dwight Howard Get the Respect He Deserves?

Kevin Garnett had barely completed his latest flip-out, adding a bizarre head-butting outburst to the night he tried to bite Joakim Noah and the game in which he blew in David West’s face, before attention quickly turned to the target of his latest tantrum.

Garnett did not even seem particularly upset with Dwight Howard when he had his latest nutty. In Monday's otherwise mundane Houston Rockets rout of the Brooklyn Nets, Garnett was called for a foul and immediately protested, “He hooked me.” Garnett lightly jabbed Howard in the elbow. Howard sent a light backhand to Garnett’s chest. Garnett flipped out, firing the ball and then the head-butt at Howard.

Garnett was so wacky that the NBA pretended the right hand Howard delivered in retaliation to Garnett’s “neck area” was merely a "push." The league usually rules any such contact no different from a punch, cites "striking" another player and suspends both combatants.

The NBA suspended Garnett for a game and hit Howard with a slap-on-the-wrist $15,000 fine even less stringent than his slap in the “neck area.”

Yet, despite Garnett’s grumpy old-man act, suppositions rose about why Howard had been his target—questions that had not been asked when Garnett lunged at Noah or blew on West.

Howard has inspired analysis since his clumsy departure from Orlando and wholly unsatisfying 2012-13 season in and eventual departure from Los Angeles.

This season began with Kobe Bryant shouting from across the room and with players between them that Howard was "soft."

In November, Kevin Durant barked similar, more vividly (and profanely) worded accusations.

Neither tested the "soft" theory or even came close, but a narrative was born.

Hall of Famer Gary Payton, the former Seattle SuperSonics guard, weighed in that players around the NBA dislike Howard because of “all the smiles and antics.”

Payton did not say if anyone in the league told him that, or if he was repeating an assumption. But Payton offered a clue when he added Durant rarely says anything on the court. It's quite the opposite: Durant can be a biting and vivid trash-talker.

In a sense, Payton’s analysis offered insight into the thinking of those who buy into the theory Durant and Bryant shouted from safe distances. Players gossip as much as anyone else. They are on social media. They make assumptions and pass them along.

Few embrace the narrative of Howard as a tough guy, despite ample evidence to the point.

Most notably, his season in Los Angeles went largely misunderstood. He played the season on the heels of major back surgery and willingly took the heat for his poor play, only months after he could barely walk. He was criticized for failing and vilified for leaving, even as the Lakers descended into a lottery lock in the seasons since, a decline that should have validated Howard’s decision.

Howard’s silliness had come in direct contrast to Bryant’s competitive fire, and “soft” became an easy comparison point for Howard.

Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale, who was always about as soft as a Hibbing, Minnesota, winter, pointed out that he recalled Magic Johnson smiling as he beat his butt in a few NBA Finals. The Rockets would be just fine if Howard smiles his way to that sort of success.

But for now, Howard does not have the ultimate retort.

Orlando traded him because the Magic knew he would not stay. Howard left Los Angeles' sinking ship, favoring a team on the rise. But forget logic and reason—Howard can only prove himself on the floor and when the spotlight is its brightest.

Howard got what he wanted with a chance to contend. Until he does, there is no answer he can offer to counter the criticisms.

At this point, there is nothing to be gained in rising to the bait. He can’t respond to the accusations of Bryant or Durant. He was wise to limit his response to Garnett’s noggin; the Rockets need him around much more than the fading Nets need what’s left of Garnett.

Instead, Howard offered the only answer he could.

He has not been out of the first round of the playoffs since the 2009-10 season, the year after his run to the NBA Finals with the Magic. He excelled in last season’s playoffs, but for Howard and the Rockets, the postseason ended in just six games.

For Howard, the only answer anyone will consider must come on the court, and it must come when the stakes are greater than can come in a win in Brooklyn or with a sharp retort in an on-court shouting match.

“I’ll do my damage when it’s time,” Howard said after the Garnett to-do.

Though he did not say it, and might not have even thought it, he knew he can't change the narrative until he replaces it with a new one.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.