Howard is about to discover what LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony and many others have learned painfully: Free agency seems like the end of a process, but it isn’t. Howard can’t ride off into the sunset. He has to produce.
His choice was wise. Of all the teams wooing him, the Rockets are the most likely to build a champion around him. The Lakers were selling the past and future, but not the present. The Mavericks and Hawks were promising they would make more promises.
This was a sensible decision by a man who hasn’t made many of those in the last two years. Howard has always been part superstar and part cartoon, even before he wore a cape in the NBA slam-dunk contest. He is easy to mock but hard to truly dislike. He is like the Tom Hanks character in “Big” — giddy that he is larger than he ever imagined, but not quite prepared to act like an adult.
In an era when players try to force trades and act like free agents long before they actually are free agents, Howard seems like the worst of the breed. But he is actually a breed of his own. Other players are too calculating. Howard isn’t calculating enough. He could have saved us all a lot of annoying headlines if he had a goal in mind all this time. Instead, he has spent two years on a career hamster wheel.
In 2011-12, while the Magic were paying him an eight-figure salary to play basketball, he demanded a trade. Then he changed his mind and opted into his contract, saying, “I’m very loyal and I’ve always put loyalty above anything.” Then he demanded a trade again. He ended up in Los Angeles. He was extremely happy there until practice started. Then, not so much.
In Orlando, he wanted Stan Van Gundy fired but denied it. In Los Angeles, his people leaked stories about unhappiness with coach Mike D’Antoni. A player can only sound that bell so many times before fans get a headache. Howard has to get along with McHale. He has no choice.