Dwight Howard….The Pressure of Loyalty?

On March 15th we all waited, watched and wondered about the decision that Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic would make. Howard was given the option to be traded and sign with another team, and he  had to decide by March 15th. Rumors were flying across the industry, maybe he would be a Laker, a Net, or even a Bull? Announcers at games before the deadline said things like: “This may be Dwight’s last night as a Magic” “That may have been Howard’s last shot as a Magic”. Who knows, but we were all waiting and some of us were hoping to see him another teams jersey on March 16th.

Dwight Howard wanted to be traded, anybody who is everybody that pays attention to sports knew that he wanted out. I personally could see it in his game, call me crazy but I felt like he was sometimes playing just to get by. In the NBA, franchises want to win rings, players want to win rings, fans want their teams to win rings… the championship is the ultimate prize! One day Dwight Howard looked around and thought to himself.. “Can I win here… maybe not… not anytime soon” So he wanted out and expressed such.

Then the media stepped in because Dwight had us waiting for that decision, sounds familiar? He was quickly becoming the bad guy, teams, players, fans and everybody else felt like he was jerking us around… playing with emotions. Orlando fans were hurt and soon broadcasters and sports analyst alike were saying “Dwight just decide”.

March 15th rolls around and well…. Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic… decides to stay… a Magic. Ok.. and he waived his free agency for the end of the season which means that he will be a magic until next season… the beginning.

My first thought was why? Why did he choose to stay with the Magic and why did he take us on this ride if he was going to make this decisions! Then I thought about it and answered my own questions. I feel as though Dwight Howard decided to stay with the Orlando Magic because of the pressure from the media and fans to remain “loyal”. He saw what happened to Lebron James and the Cleveland situation, Dwight was already becoming the bad guy as the days went on and the date got closer. He couldn’t take the pressure so he took the short end of the stick for the moment. Now why did he put us through all this? I feel like he wanted to be in the media for a while, he got his moment, his shine, all eyes on him… but when it came down to it he stayed in Orlando… was it all for show?

So my question is…. why is loyalty such a big thing in a money driven business. Also, did Dwight decide under pressure? If Dwight did decided because of what everybody else was saying, what does that say about him, the league and even the media?

What do you think?