Dwight Howard continues to put himself in the news in more negative ways than positive. Lately, he is becoming more known for his antics than what used to be stellar defense and "Superman" abilities. With much media commotion over his injured shoulder, Howard is only making it worse by claiming opponents are targeting his injury on purpose, specifically calling out the Miami Heat.
Howard is still considered an elite player, so it is only natural he is more of a target when on the court. Aggressive players are going to go after him, especially after the well-documented injury that is his arm. Howard's torn labrum in his right shoulder is only going to have opponents attempting to gain even more of an advantage on the big center. Howard called out the Miami Heat for intentionally grabbing at him during Sunday's game, saying his shoulder hurt the moment after tip-off.
"They got me early. They would yank it back. It's like a jolt. Then it hurts the rest of the night," Howard said to Yahoo! Sports after the game.
Howard is also claiming the Charlotte Bobcats did the same thing in their game Friday night. As Howard continues to be painted as a soft player, these accusations are certainly not helping. Howard says he is trying to do everything he can to help the team win games, but is trying not to make the injury worse. He says that there is no timetable for his shoulder to be fully healed and he intends on giving what he can until then.
His playing time continues to grow after initially missing three games when the injury first took place. In the loss against Miami, Howard played 41 minutes, scoring 15 points and grabbing nine rebounds. He played four more minutes than Kobe Bryant.
Bryant says Howard is going to have to learn to play through the pain. Howard looks more miserable on the court these days than he used to when playing in Orlando. It is obvious that he is uncomfortable. Whether that is due to his shoulder injury or the Lakers in general is unknown.
This is not the first players have intentionally tried to go after another player with an injury. It is a typical gesture in sports to try and gain an advantage. This should come to no surprise to Howard that he is now an even bigger target than before.