It appears these days that everyone has an opinion on Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard and whether or not he should stay in the purple and gold. After a turbulent season, it now seems one of Howard's biggest supporters is beginning to change his tune.
TNT analyst Charles Barkley appeared on The Dan Patrick Show and said he no longer believes Howard is a franchise player:
"I've always subscribed to the theory that Dwight was a franchise player you can build your team around and Shaq does not think so. I gotta tell you something, I'm starting to side with Shaq a little bit. I think Dwight is a very, very good player, but I'm not sure he has that mental toughness to be a franchise player. Because the one thing you have to be, have to be, you have to be tough [...]watching him crumble under criticism from Kobe, criticism from fans, criticism from the media this year.
I'm not sure he can stay in LA, because Kobe's only going to play another year anyway, and then it will be Dwight's team and all that pressure will be on his back."
Barkley knows a thing or two about being a franchise player and if he doesn't think things for Howard will work out, he may be right.
ESPN analyst Magic Johnson doesn't know what Howard has in stored for his future, but he surely believes he'll stand a better chance leaving the Lakers to join the Houston Rockets.
"With Dwight Howard, (Houston) would take the next step as being one of the elite teams - I would say one through four or five one of the best four or five teams in the league - and definitely would give themselves a chance to win a championship."
Johnson cited the emerging star in James Harden, Kevin McHale as being a head coach Howard would enjoy playing for, and a young supporting cast that includes Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik and Chandler Parsons as reasons why Howard would enjoy playing in Houston and why the Rockets would become title contenders.
Still, there's really no telling what will happen in the future dealing with Howard.
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