Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson, the Magic's co-captains, received a lecture regarding leadership from the team's GM and head coach today.
Photo by Fernando Medina, NBAE/Getty Images
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John Denton and Tim Povtak both report that Otis Smith and Stan Van Gundy met with Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson, the Magic's co-captains, to discuss the importance of leadership. Bravo to Messrs. Smith and Van Gundy for trying to talk some sense into the two players who represent the future of the franchise. Dwight and Jameer can frequently be observed hamming it up on the court during games, even when the Magic are losing. Such behavior sets a bad example to their teammates; if Dwight and Jameer don't take losing seriously, who will? Check out this excerpt from the Orlando Sentinel's recap of the loss to Golden State last Saturday:
Dwight Howard reached out and touched Golden State Warriors point guard Baron Davis' hand before stepping to the free-throw line after having made eight in a row. He missed the shot.
"Baron said if he touched my hand I'd miss my free throws," Howard said. "Me, being silly, I touched his hand. He jinxed me. It worked."
The other great players in this league -- such Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Chris Paul -- all have fun. But late in the game, they stop screwing around and start playing hard. Dwight and Jameer need to bring that attitude every night.
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