Dwight Howard defends himself, James Harden after criticisms of being bad teammates
By Sam Richmond
Dwight Howard and James Harden came under pretty heavy fire from fans and media alike on Friday when comments from Donatas Motiejunas seemed to imply that the two Rockets stars distance themselves from the rest of the Rockets team.
Coming on the heels of comments from Howard and Harden this summer that suggested they didn’t value role players, this was certainly a bad look for the Rockets stars. But Howard immediately took to Twitter to defend himself and Harden as teammates.
@TC_Heiss scroll thru my pics don't believe everything u hear. We went to movies and ate dinner almost every city. But u wouldn't know that
— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) August 8, 2014
@Bcacc3 man we don't eat alone.
— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) August 8, 2014
Validating Howard’s defense is that it appears Motiejunas’ comments were completely taken out of context.
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A Reddit user listened to the interview and transcribed it. Here’s what he actually said (H/T Deadspin):
"Q: When communicating with Howard and Harden, what do you talk about?A: Basically I say just “Hello” and “Goodbye” to them.Q: They don’t invite you to barbecue or something?A: No, they eat different food than me.Q: What? Do you mean they eat oysters?A: No… being European, I am more likely to eat oyster than them. They eat fast food."
It certainly seems that this is more of Howard and Harden simply enjoy different food than Motiejunas than them not wanting to hang out with their teammates. Unfortunately for Harden and Howard, the damage to their reputation has already been done.