These days it seems everyone has an opinion on Dwight Howard and whether or not he should stay with the Los Angeles Lakers. One of Dwight’s most ardent supporters throughout all of the criticism has always been Charles Barkley as he has constantly defended the big man as the best center in the league.
—- Check out Lakers big man Dwight Howard’s player bio here! —-
However this season seems to have changed Barkley’s tune. This morning, 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 all about being a franchise player and it’s hard to argue with any of the points he made here. Dwight is known to have some thin skin and as a franchise player, especially in LA, all eyes and pressure will be on you and we don’t know if Dwight can handle that.
Dwight probably knows this too and that’s why he will be taking a long look at all of his options this offseason. Regardless of where he ends up, as the premier big man in the NBA Howard will have to learn to take the scrutiny and pressure or he will never get his name mentioned amongst the great center of NBA lore.
Barkley also talked about Kobe Bryant, and how he believes he will return from his injured Achilles next season.
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