Wednesday, February 15th, 2012 at 9:00 am  |  119 responses

Shaq: Dwight Howard Leaving Orlando Would Be a ‘Travesty’


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Sixteen years ago, Shaquille O’Neal turned his back on the Orlando Magic, and took his enormous talents and personality to the City of Angels. Having somehow lucked out into the premiere young big man in the NBA, Orlando is on the verge of losing him to brighter lights once agan.

According to Shaq, if (when) Magic center Dwight Howard leaves, it would be a “travesty”.

The Orlando Sentinel has the quotes:

No one doubts that speculation about Dwight Howard’s uncertain future will a primary storyline of All-Star weekend in Orlando on Feb. 24-26. But how much, if at all, will all that talk about Howard overshadow what’s supposed to be a joyous time? That question was posed to TNT/NBA TV analyst Shaquille O’Neal during a Turner Sports teleconference Tuesday with reporters.

“I think it’s going to be about 50-50,” said O’Neal, who still owns a home in Isleworth. “But all around, I think it’s going to be a great event … Orlando’s come a long way since the ’92 All-Star Game,” O’Neal added. “The nightlife here is fabulous. The real estate has been fabulous. You still have Disney around the corner for you to bring your family. So I think it’s going to be a great event. It’d be good if he could put on a show and get the love and the support from the fans here and win the MVP. Hopefully, he stays, because that arena there is one of the best arenas in the country. If he leaves, it’ll be a travesty.”

The irony in all of this is delicious.

Dwight Howard leaving Orlando isn’t a travesty, or any such nonsense. He has given the franchise seven great seasons, and if he feels that he can’t win a title there (or reach all of his off-the-court dreams), then he has every right to leave. Just like Shaq did.

It’s not a travesty. But it sure does suck for the Orlando Magic and their fans.

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  • T Bone

    i gotta say that this was one of the most entertaining threads i have read on here… and i am an original Linkstagator (the old heads know what that is) so i have read a lot of threads on here!
    also – im Scottish (but living in South africa) and even i prefer not to be called british.

  • hugo

    no offense to any irish ppl here, but its a sh=tty azz place to live in comparison to other places in europe. and it might not be british but its like a japanese sayin he aint korean…

  • blakos

    I’m gunna call you out AllenP. You coming off insular and borderline egocentric. Hahaa but your whole comment could of been sarcastic no? The beauty of the web.

    Enigmatic, I always think of those wake scenes when a cop dies off the Tv series “The Wire”. That looks like a classic piss up. Even though its in Baltimore…

    @1982 Coming to you from Aotearoa baby. New Zealand. Off to see Erykah Badu tomorrow. Stoked.

  • BBaller

    @blankos, good ‘choice’ of words..you’ll get LOL

  • BBaller

    *you’ll get it

  • blakos

    ha i see that…

  • bobbyD

    @hugo ” it might not be british but its like a japanese sayin he aint korean…”. ?? What are you on about.

  • Justin G.

    blakos, you must be new if you’re just noticing now that AllenP comes off egocentric. It’s just something we’re all used to now. And what is “speaking American” anyway? You have about ten different accents in the States depending on what part of the country you’re from. It’s still considered the English language at it’s base though, not American

  • Flud

    Braveheart was filmed in Ireland so saying ‘loved you in Braveheart’ to an Irishman could, quite possibly, be very correct. Anyways, Shaq is a televisualanalytical disaster. Could they not have him roving on the sidelines or something? Or outside the arena, and not really have him on the TV but let him believe that he is… yada yada

  • blakos

    @Justin ye been around a few years now. Just never comment. Comment section always a good read. Ye AllenP is knowledgeable. but he can often be off point on non basketball related issues. Generally agree with his Basketball reasoning though.

  • Paul H

    @ Hugo, Have you ever been to Ireland you moron? Judging by the sheer idiotic ignorance of the rest of your comment I highly doubt It.

  • http://www.twitter.com/hurstysyd Hursty

    I see you Blakos haha. Commenting from Sydney.

  • http://www.twitter.com/hurstysyd Hursty

    And this thread was classic. Very entertaining.

  • eyal

    I miss chris webber. Also, I would like to officially take back what I said about Chris Bosh, if only for the sake of not having the same opinion of him as Mr. O’neil.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    I know that there is no such thing as speaking “American.” Again, I wasn’t serious, but it’s hard to convey sarcasm and humor in a random comment box.
    Of course I know where Americans got English from, but clearly we don’t speak the same English that Brits and others speak anymore. Nor do we use the same spellings.
    And it was a joke about the random “u” that European folks insert into words. Like color and colour.
    And I’m glad people disagree with me. Life would be boring if everybody agreed. Still ain’t gonna stop me from thinking I’m right.

  • dev0

    Unfortunately entertainment > good journalism. Does Shaq think before he speaks sometimes?

  • hugo

    lol ofcourse Ive been to ireland…what im on about is that people get confused and find it hard to distinguish irish and british people, just like they find it difficult to distinguish between koreans and japanese people…i realize how racist that earlier comment may have come accross…furthermore, Dublin is expensive, the weather is crap, theres little diversity, its rather small for a capital and theres been a recent housing crisis. It just doesnt compare to other places like barcelona paris or even cities in germany…

  • hugo

    and japanese and irish people get offended even though the average human being cant do anything bout it….

  • bobbyD

    @Hugo The average human being like yourself can refrain from making idiotic comments as a start.

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