Come Fly With Me

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“Stay tuned to hear an amazing tale, the remarkable-but-true story of how Dwight Howard defeated all foes and become the most unstoppable force in today’s NBA!”

You sort of have to admit: The classics are cheesy. Read a sentence like the one above in Dwight’s Ish 118 cover story, and you know it’s an ode to the original Superman comic. Check the comic shelf today and Superman is modernized. Ultraman. Bizarro. Red Son. John Henry Irons. The Eradicator. The list continues. There’s something comforting about that original after a while. A desire for the dorky, outdatedness. But why? One important distinction: Classics are done right. Let’s look at it.

When Dwight revealed the blue spandex and red silk cape from the local New Orleans Halloween shop, that was undoubtedly dope. A throwback to the most classic of classic action heroes. Yes, he didn’t even dunk the ball. But Dwight honored the element of surprise. The hero coming to the rescue. The costume. He sprang high in the air. Like a bird. Like a plane! It was as corny, sure, but it wasn’t some modern imitation of a classic dunk (which the League actually promoted at past All-Stars!). Say what you want about Dwight’s props this year, the Dunk Contest was getting stale because of a lack of originality. Howard didn’t just alter what had already been done… he perfectly mocked a part of American culture and adapted it to the basketball realm. Perfect 50 for bringing the cheese in another fashion.

Originality. We give homage to it. We respect it so much, actually, that it becomes cool. We brought you the story of Dwight Howard in classic Superman form (and even got Dwight flying a bit, too). Just don’t laugh at the corny language.