Dwight Howard and the Entitled Star Athlete

The above image is from the Orlando Magic's 108-86 loss to the New York Knicks last night, a game that was broadcast nationally on ESPN. As you can see, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy is hosting a timeout discussion, probably focusing on the reasons Orlando had fallen so far behind. Then off the the right of the image, Dwight Howard and teammate Jameer Nelson sit isolated from the rest of their team, completely out of hearing reach of even Stan Van Gundy's voice, let alone your average screeching coach. This sign of disrespect to their coach and their teammates is something that is not just a common problem on the Magic, but all across professional sports today.

In countless cities in America, faces of sports franchises are carrying themselves with this type of lofty attitude, putting themselves about the team itself, caring more about themselves as a brand than they do about the win in the next morning's paper. There is really no excuse for this type of behavior, and Howard's actions last night is a perfect example. If anyone in the National Basketball Association should be doing everything in their power to re-endear themselves with their employer, their teammates and their fans, it's Howard, following a trade request that went unfulfilled and has loomed over the Magic all season. Instead, Howard shows a complete disregard for all of those parties, by clearly displaying what one would perceive as selfish actions. What message is he sending here? That he and Nelson aren't responsible for the loss? That Van Gundy has nothing to offer him as far as advice in this situation? Even if these things are true, this is almost an aggressive act of disrespect considering six steps is the difference between this being talked about nationally or a non-issue.

This issue shines a spotlight on many problems in professional sports today, where the athletes have all the power and control the fate of the league. We saw this with the secret conspiring that led to the Miami Thrice, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, as well as countless other trade requests and other me-first activity. But what can be done about this. What is stopping star athletes from acting this way? When fans are paying money to see them, and not the owners and coaches, who ultimately has power over the athletes? When the athlete is earning a considerably higher salary than their coach, how does a coach discipline that athlete. The basic bureaucratic system and chain of power and command is flip-flopped.

I hope that Howard has to ask questions about this, and I hope other athletes start facing consequences for their selfish actions. Maybe it just takes an outspoken veteran (on Orlando I would point to Jason or Quentin Richardson) to put these guys in their place and show them where they are wrong. Maybe these events require league intervention and suspensions. But there is really no excuse for disrespecting your teammates in any situation, win or lose. I suppose the only punishment is the fact that when we're looking at the NBA teams still playing in June, the Orlando Magic probably won't be one of them.