It looks like the Dallas Mavericks dumped forward Josh Howard for his off the court conduct, including missing a game due to having a hangover. Apparently, he showed up for a Jan. 20 game against the Wizards so hungover after a night of partying that he couldn’t participate in a team shoot around or play the game. Howard had a pretty spotty history before that, having mentioned on the radio that he occasionally smoked weed, passed out fliers to a birthday party shortly after a pivotal loss, disparaged the national anthem at a charity flag football game, and was arrested for illegal street racing. Wow.
Howard will now go to the Wizards. Yes, that’s right, the Wizards, who just saw two players suspended for the season because they pulled guns on each other in the locker room. The move works for them though because Howard’s contract will expire at the end of the season. Don’t forget, this is the same Wizards team that just said they’d bring Gilbert Arenas back next year. The future sure looks bright, huh?
This is just the latest in what’s becoming a major problem for the NBA. In the NBA, players are guaranteed their money whether they play well or not. The only way to get rid of players that are there for the money is to either trade them or buy out their contract. In Indiana, we had that situation with Jamaal Tinsely, who really stopped caring once we got the big contract. He was on the team payroll for a year without playing minute until Larry Bird decided to buy out his contract. In the NFL on the other hand, any player could get cut at anytime. If a guy doesn’t care and doesn’t put any effort into playing, he’ll be out on his ass with no problem. Unfortunately, the NBA won’t change, as I could never see the Players Union agreeing to change that rule. It proves again why the NBA is the worst run professional league the U.S.
