The Dwight Howard – Mike D’Antoni marriage gets another shot with the Houston Rockets next season.
Well, maybe.
The Rockets brought on D’Antoni as head coach recently knowing full and well the marriage just didn’t work when the two were members of the Los Angeles Lakers a few years ago. Despite the debacle, is sounds like D’Antoni wants Howard to stick around for at least one year, according to the Houston Chronicle‘s Jonathan Feigen:
D’Antoni called Dwight Howard “One of the best players in the league. We’re going to play a certain way. I hope he wants to play that way.”
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) June 1, 2016
Most expect Howard to opt out of his player option. This being what might be his last chance to go get a max deal, not to mention escape what was a disastrous situation last year, the notion makes plenty of sense.
But it makes even more sense now with D’Antoni running the show. Just look at a small sampling of the Twitter world’s reaction to the D’Antoni hire:
Considering Dwight Howard’s well-chronicled view of his Mike D’Antoni experience in LA, pretty clear sign of things in Houston w/ this pick
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) May 26, 2016
If Mike D’Antoni is coaching the Rockets, they clearly aren’t expecting Dwight Howard to return
— Myles (@abillionmyles) June 1, 2016
HAHAHA one of the reasons Dwight Howard left the lakers is because of Mike D’Antoni and now he’s the coach for the Rockets
— areeb (@saudiareebia) May 26, 2016
Remember, Howard didn’t mesh well with D’Antoni’s coaching style, per a report by ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin while the Lakers were still hoping Howard would stick with the franchise:
According to sources with knowledge of the situation, part of the discussion between Howard and Kupchak centered around Howard’s frustration with D’Antoni — particularly how the center felt marginalized as the coach looked to Bryant and Steve Nash for leadership and suggestions and discounted Howard’s voice.
Presuming Howard will stick with the Rockets and buy into something he publicly clashed with just a few years ago seems like a stretch.
With D’Antoni on board and somewhat taking a public stance already, the safe bet is Howard opting out. This, of course, makes free agency nothing short of more interesting than ever.
