Charlotte Hornets: Why all of the unwarranted hate on Dwight Howard?

Despite being the best player from his draft class by far, and an overall good person, Dwight Howard seems to be overly criticized by fans and media.

Being drafted first overall brings the most pressure any athlete could have in sports. Drafted in front of everyone, even just two or three guys out playing you from that class can lead to massive criticisms about you. Dwight Howard has lived up to it all.

An eight-time All-Star. Five-time All-NBA 1st team (8 total All-NBA teams). Three-time Defensive Player of the Year. Runner-up for the MVP award in 2011. Olympic Gold Medalist. Averaged a double-double all thirteen seasons in the league. Even led an Orlando Magic team that wasn’t exactly a super team to the NBA Finals. By far the best player in his draft class, Dwight has lived up to it all.

He doesn’t get treated like it though.

Between the media and fans all over social media, you see it everywhere. Soft, team killer, washed, Dwight has heard and seen it all. The question is, why?

Every player gets hate from time to time, but he has consistently been a dominant force and hasn’t floundered out of the league like multiple first overall picks. He has never been in trouble with the law or been arrested. There are countless players that have accomplished much less than Dwight that gets treated better. He always seems to be the scapegoat.

That doesn’t seem to affect him and his personality, however. Often times on Twitter, Dwight responds to haters and trolls with his usual sense of humor. This was a reply to somebody making a joke about him not being able to shoot:

No player is ever exempt from criticism about their play, but Dwight’s haters never seem to be able to backup their claims with legitimate arguments. Calling Dwight soft? Is he soft because he is always one of the best rebounders in the league? Or is he soft because he has averaged two blocks a game for his career?

The most astonishing thing perhaps is when people criticize him as a person or his lifestyle.  Dwight has an entertaining personality and is always active in the community. Over the years, the D12 Foundation has helped so many kids in a positive way.

One of the best things about the foundation is that is stretches beyond just basketball. It helps teach kids how to live a responsible lifestyle and shows the youth how to help others and how to treat them with respect. D12 even goes as far as to help educate the millions of girls in Africa that are lacking education. On a national and global scale, Dwight is dedicated to giving others a better life.

More from Swarm and Sting

• Hornets: Where does Brandon Miller’s ceiling rank among other rookies?
• Charlotte Hornets grade out mostly average in position-by-position ranking
• Hornets News: P.J. Washington makes bold statement on Brandon Miller
• Grade the mock trade: Hornets snag Tyler Herro, flip Gordon Hayward
• Will the Charlotte Hornets be in the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery?

It doesn’t just stop there, Dwight has already voiced that he is eager to begin helping different organizations in Charlotte. Nobody is perfect of course, but Dwight certainly isn’t one of the guys whose personal life and integrity should be questioned.

The most of common of Dwight’s online haters and trolls seem to be fans of the Los Angeles Lakers. This hatred spawns from Dwight’s lone season in the City of Angels.

Going into that season, Lakers fans had potential championship hopes. Kobe Bryant paired with the newly added Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, there was hope for a superstar caliber “Big Three”.

As we all know, that season was a bit of a let down that ended with the Lakers being swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. Dwight seems to be the most common scapegoat as to why the Lakers disappointed, but that’s far from that truth.

In that 2012-2013 season, Dwight averaged 17.1 PPG and 12.4 RPG (stats via basketball-reference.com). Yes, his scoring was down from his previous seasons with the Orlando Magic. That should’ve been expected, though, because that’s what happens when you share the court with a dynamic scorer like Kobe Bryant. That stat line was still good enough to be the NBA’s rebounding leader and All-NBA 3rd team honors. Many critics like to pretend Dwight averaged puny numbers in that season, but those numbers are still phenomenal.

Criticisms of Dwight’s play in the playoffs may warrant some credibility, but not all of it. It was NOT his fault they lost that series to the 2013 Western Conference Champions. With Kobe Bryant having torn his achilles a few weeks prior, the Lakers were never going to win that series. Did Dwight step his game up enough to give the Lakers a fighting chance? No, but he knows that, and he knows that wasn’t the reason they did not advance past the first round.

Even the so called “feud” between him and Kobe seems to be exaggerated by critics, as Dwight publicly stated a few weeks ago.

It wasn’t until that season that the hatred for Dwight Howard really grew. He had always had a target on his back by being a number one pick and depicting himself as “Superman”, but this made it grow exponentially.

It’s no secret that Dwight has been just a shell of his former self the past couple years. In the playoffs this past season, he was even benched in the Hawks series against the Wizards. Things like this have just opened the floodgates for Dwight slander.

Regardless of his ability to deflect criticism towards him, surely he grows tired of it. Dwight has shown that he is prepared and working hard for this upcoming season. His goal is to silence the haters and the doubters.

Charlotte may be the perfect place for him to do that. On some of his previous teams, Dwight’s play has been under a constant microscope by fans. Often times the expectations for him were unrealistic.

He won’t have that problem in Charlotte. The fans already love him and the enthusiasm he is expressing about coming to the Queen City. The Hornets acquired Dwight by giving up Miles Plumlee, no matter how Dwight plays, he will not be a downgrade. The way I see it, Dwight is only going help the Hornets. If he is able to turn back the clock a little bit, that will just be extra.

Dwight also has some very similar characteristics as another polarizing sports star in Charlotte. Cam Newton.

Next: Early playoff predictions: Moving forward for Charlotte

Both were first overall picks. Both are freaks of nature that refer to themselves as “Superman” and led teams with a less than stellar supporting cast to their respective championship games. They also both have fun-loving personalities. Most importantly, two of the most heavily criticized athletes in sports.

However, Charlotte embraces Cam for why others hate him, and they will embrace Dwight Howard for the same reasons too.