Dwight Howard in two minds over his future with the Orlando Magic – NBA News
Come next summer, Dwight Howard will have to make a big decision.
And it has got the Orlando Magic super star worried already.
Dwight has been in a “stay or leave” paradox with Orlando for a while now and has so far spurned the advances of other teams. But, he doesn’t know if he would be able to do so when his contract runs out in the summer.
As soon as Dwight becomes a free-agent, being the best centre in the league and that too by far, he is sure to have loads of offers from teams around the NBA. He however already has the strongest overture from his own team, the
Magic. And it’s not just the franchise; the whole city is striving in unison to make Howard sign an extension.
The centre though, isn’t really sure what to do. He does know there would be advantages of playing in a bigger market and with better teammates. But, he also has a love for the city of Orlando, something he just cannot ignore.
"There's more you can do in a bigger place. I'm stuck in a tough position because I feel like right now, where I'm at, I've done so much. And I just don't know what else I can do. I can't live for everybody else," Howard told the
Esquire magazine.
The principle factor here is the NBA World Championship. Howard wants one badly. He has loads of individual accolades already. He is the one who has carried the mantle from Shaquille O’ Neal and has won the NBA’s Defensive Player
of the Year in the last three seasons.
The NBA Championship is what drives him and such is his talent, that if he doesn’t win one, he would not be doing justice to it.
If Orlando can get a better and more competitive unit to surround Howard, he will definitely stay. But that is no easy feat, especially when you have wasters like Gilbert Arenas taking up the salary cap room, which could have been
used to lure in some talent.
That, in the end means that Howard’s still in limbo.
"I don't know what decision I'm gonna make as of right now. ... Everybody wants me to come here, come play here, come to our team, do this. It's a great feeling, though, to be wanted, " Howard told Esquire.
Orlando’s fans have pulled out all the stops in their efforts to make Howard stay, and the player has love for them as well. However what happened in the playoffs this year, when Howard’s teammates let him down as the Magic crashed
out against Atlanta Hawks, will also be looming large in his mind.
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