#  Dwight Howard #stayD12 Posters Are an Embarrassment to Los Angeles Lakers Fans

     Details    Tony Baker   ![logo](https://www.citywatchla.com//templates/ja_teline_v/images/logo.png)         July 01 2013       [ARCHIVE](https://www.citywatchla.com/archive)   - [  Previous Article **Don’t Fire California Teachers for Private Marijuana Use** ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5318:don-t-fire-california-teachers-for-private-marijuana-use&catid=16)
- [  Next Article **Metro Rail Odyssey Exposes MTA for What It is: Disorganized and Unprepared** ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5320:metro-rail-odyssey-exposes-mta-for-what-it-is-disorganized-and-unprepared&catid=16)

  ###### Typography

- [](# "Smaller Font")  ****Smaller** **Small** **Medium** **Big** **Bigger****  [](# "Bigger Font")
- [](# "Previous Font Style")  ****Default** **Helvetica** **Segoe** **Georgia** **Times****  [](# "Next Font Style")

- [ Reading Mode](# "Reading Mode")

> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a><a class="a2a_button_print"></a>[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
>
> ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/July-2013/cw11053d.png)SPORTS POLITICS - Fans of the **[Los Angeles Lakers](http://www.rantsports.com/nba/teams/los-angeles-lakers)** have been accused of many things. We have been called shallow, indifferent, opportunistic spectators who might deign to take in a few minutes of basketball action in the rare event that some new piece of iPhone trivium hasn’t commanded our full attention at a Lakers game.
>
> But you know what we’ve never been accused of? Groveling. That’s small-town stuff. No player—not even the legendary **Shaquille O’Neal**—is too big for this city. Shaq’s departure was a disappointment, but Laker nation did not beg him to stay or launch a massive publicity campaign to change his heart at the eleventh hour. We simply accepted that we might have to sit through a couple years of **Kwame Brown, Smush Parker** and **Brian Cook** before our inevitable return to title contention.

 So, imagine my surprise when I saw the pictures of #stayD12 posters popping up all over town like some Citi Bike-esque eyesore (only instead of being useful, it’s just humiliating), culminating in [this absurdly craven display](http://t.co/azI12oh2AY) on the side of the Beverly Hills Hotel.

That’s right, the same hotel that once served as the album cover for one of the greatest recordings of all time now bears humiliating witness to a misguided campaign to keep a player who never *really* wanted to be here in the first place.

Do we really need to invest more resources in the saga of **Dwight Howard**? Was last year’s $19.5 million not enough?

More to the point, *why* the desperation? So we can see a center past his prime throw running hooks off the backboard and miss free throws for the next five years? So we can fill the seats at Staples Center every night, praying that our max-contract player doesn’t fall to another back injury? As anyone with back problems knows well, they never truly go away. Remember T-Mac? Amar’e? **Baron Davis**? All have had their careers altered by chronic back issues. So **Jim Buss** can throw up his hands and say, “Oh well, at least I tried!” when things don’t work out?

The biggest strike against Howard, however, is not his awful free-throw stroke, or his reduced mobility, or his history of injuries; it is his terrible attitude that has been a huge distraction to both the Lakers and the **[Orlando Magic](http://www.rantsports.com/nba/teams/orlando-magic)** in recent years, an attitude undeserving of a maximum contract.

By the way, if the Howard for **Blake Griffin** and **Eric Bledsoe** trade was really on the table last month, the Lakers were idiots not to take it in a heartbeat.

Let’s be clear**—**Howard is not a bad guy. In fact, he seems like a pretty good guy to be around, all things considered. To the best of our knowledge, he’s affable in his personal interactions with fans, he looks like he’s having a good time out on the court and he hasn’t been accused of any felonies (which gives him points over a certain other big-name Laker, but I digress).

Nevertheless, the center has displayed an immaturity in his dealings with his respective teams and the media, that indicates he is not ready to assume the responsibility inherent in the type of contract to which the Lakers would need to sign him. He has made waffling public statements when such statements are unwarranted and unnecessary, he has accused fans of being “ungrateful” and he appears completely incapable of making firm commitments. Those are not the qualities you look for in a champion, and a player who displays them certainly does not deserve the sort of shameful, reprobate obsequiousness that the Lakers have shown in this poster campaign.

It’s depressing enough being a Lakers fan nowadays. Even if Howard leaves, Los Angeles is still weighed down by the massive contracts of **Kobe Bryant** and **Pau Gasol**, while the roster isn’t exactly full of tradable assets.

So, I’m begging you, **Jim Buss**, **Mitch Kupchak** or whoever is responsible for this ill-advised campaign, please, take it all down. Now, this is not 2009. He’s not that good anymore. Letting go is hard, but we’ll be better off in the long run. Besides, he was never really into us, and the sooner we accept that, the happier we will be.

*(Tony Baker is a Los Angeles Angels blogger for [Rant Sports](http://rantsports.com) … where this column was first posted. You can follow him on Twitter at [@tonloc\_baker](http://www.twitter.com/tonloc_baker).) Credit: Story tip to CityWatch from attorney Robert Baker … Tony’s father.)*

*-cw*

CityWatch

Vol 11 Issue 53

Pub: July 2, 2013

  - [  Previous Article **Don’t Fire California Teachers for Private Marijuana Use** ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5318:don-t-fire-california-teachers-for-private-marijuana-use&catid=16)
- [  Next Article **Metro Rail Odyssey Exposes MTA for What It is: Disorganized and Unprepared** ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5320:metro-rail-odyssey-exposes-mta-for-what-it-is-disorganized-and-unprepared&catid=16)
<div data-id="1" 
	class="eb-inst eb-hide eb-emailform eb-1 eboxContentLocker"
	data-options='{"trigger":"onPageLoad","trigger_selector":"","delay":3000,"early_trigger":true,"scroll_depth":"percentage","scroll_depth_value":80,"firing_frequency":1,"reverse_scroll_close":true,"threshold":0,"close_out_viewport":false,"exit_timer":1000,"idle_time":10000,"close_on_esc":false,"animation_open":"slideInDown","animation_close":"fadeOutDown","animation_duration":400,"disable_page_scroll":true,"test_mode":false,"debug":false,"ga_tracking":true,"ga_tracking_id":"G-P16BQ7X1SW","ga_tracking_event_category":"EngageBox","ga_tracking_event_label":"Box #1 - Global Email Signup Form","auto_focus":false}'
	data-type='popup'
	>

	<button type="button" data-ebox-cmd="close" class="eb-close placement-outside" aria-label="Close">
	<img alt="close popup button" />
	<span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
</button>
	<div class="eb-dialog eb-formVer" role="dialog" aria-modal="true" id="dialog1" aria-label="dialog1">
		
		<button type="button" data-ebox-cmd="close" class="eb-close placement-inside" aria-label="Close">
	<img alt="close popup button" />
	<span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
</button>	
		<div class="eb-container">
						<div class="eb-content">
				
<form action="https://citywatchla.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=34d69f33624fd058ee9b56516&amp;id=4bfa422f51&amp;f_id=00d6c2e1f0" class="eb" method="post" id="mcform-1" name="mcform-1" target="_blank">
			<div class="eb-form-header"><p><img src="/images/2023/06/be-a-city-watcher.png" alt="be a city watcher" width="350" height="97" loading="lazy" data-path="local-images:/2023/06/be-a-city-watcher.png"></p>
<p>Sign up to receive our special e-news blasts on Monday and Thursday evenings!</p></div>
	
					<div class="eb-field-row">

			
			
			
			<input class="eb-input" type="email" name="EMAIL"  placeholder="Email address"  id="EMAIL" value="" required>

			
		</div>
										
	<div class="eb-footer">
    	<button class="eb-btn" type="submit" name="subscribe" style="background-color:rgba(93, 183, 93, 1);color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 1)">
    		Sign up    	</button>
    </div>
</form>			</div>
		</div>
	</div>	
</div>
<div data-id="3" 
	class="eb-inst eb-hide eb-yesno eb-3 "
	data-options='{"trigger":"onScrollDepth","trigger_selector":"","delay":0,"early_trigger":false,"scroll_depth":"percentage","scroll_depth_value":80,"firing_frequency":2,"reverse_scroll_close":false,"threshold":0,"close_out_viewport":false,"exit_timer":1000,"idle_time":1000,"close_on_esc":false,"animation_open":"fadeInUp","animation_close":"fadeOut","animation_duration":300,"disable_page_scroll":false,"test_mode":false,"debug":false,"ga_tracking":true,"ga_tracking_id":"G-P16BQ7X1SW","ga_tracking_event_category":"EngageBox","ga_tracking_event_label":"Box #3 - Yes \/ No Donation Popup Box","auto_focus":false}'
	data-type='popup'
	>

	<button type="button" data-ebox-cmd="close" class="eb-close placement-outside" aria-label="Close">
	<img alt="close popup button" />
	<span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
</button>
	<div class="eb-dialog " role="dialog" aria-modal="true" id="dialog3" aria-label="dialog3">
		
		<button type="button" data-ebox-cmd="close" class="eb-close placement-inside" aria-label="Close">
	<img alt="close popup button" />
	<span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
</button>	
		<div class="eb-container">
						<div class="eb-content">
				
<div class="ebox-yes-no">
	<div class="ebox-yn-text">
		
		
		<div class="ebox-yn-headline" style="font-size:22px;color:#888888">
			<p>If you only give once a month, would you consider giving to CityWatch?</p>
<p>Your support fuels our mission to promote and facilitate civic engagement and neighborhood empowerment, and to hold area government and its politicians accountable.</p>
<p>Would you like to help? Even if you can only give $5, it will make a difference.</p>		</div>
			</div>
	
	<div class="ebox-ys-buttons" style="font-size: 16px;">
		
<a
					data-ebox-prevent="0"
		data-ebox-cmd="close"
				target="_self"
		href="https://www.citywatchla.com/donate"
		rel="noopener"
	
	
	
	
	class="ebox-ys-btn"
	style="background-color:#2ec664;color:#ffffff;min-width:100px">
	Yes
	</a>
<a
	
	
			data-ebox-cmd="close"
		href="#"
	
	
	class="ebox-ys-btn"
	style="background-color:#ef2345;color:#ffffff;min-width:100px">
	Not Right Now
	</a>	</div>

	</div>			</div>
		</div>
	</div>	
</div>