Dwight Howard can learn from the immortal words of Kanye West, when he opined that
His Big brother was B.I.G.’s Brother.
Used to be Dame and Bigs brother
Who was hip hop brother
Who was No I.D friend
No I.D My mentor
Howard had a well-known rivalry with former #1 overall pick Shaquille O’Neal over his use of the Superman nickname but he’s never had an active mentor in the game. He’s been an only-child in Orlando and like most only children, he’s got a good heart but he’s also been spoiled and an attention seeking missile. The former #1 pick of the ’97 NBA Draft, on the other hand had four years of college at Wake Forest, ‘The Admiral’ David Robinson and “Pops” to humble him. Meanwhile, Dwight Howard’s been learning to walk on his own in Orlando since the day he was drafted. He’s thrived on the court but he still struggles being the leader of the Orlando Magic because he’s never seen one up close and personal.
Duncan is the epitome of a leader on the hardwood. He’s a four-time NBA champion, scary consistent (except that time he grew a baby fro)and somehow remained more drama-free than pre-2009 Tiger Woods. If Dwight could integrate just some of Duncan’s cyborg-like professionalism into his persona, I think he’d be a better player and teammate. While I don’t know if Tim Duncan has ever reached out to Dwight and I doubt it, if he did I imagine it would go down like this.
