Dwight Howard makes his much-anticipated return to the City Beautiful on Tuesday when his Los Angeles Lakers play the Orlando Magic. The game will mark Howard's first at Amway Center since Orlando traded him, at his request, to the Lakers in August. The acrimonious split between him and the Magic left the team's fans salty, and justifiably so.
Magic fans who plan to attend Tuesday's game, which is sure to be a sellout, and want some inspiration for creative ways to voice their displeasure with Howard need look no further than the team's official website. Magic scribe Josh Cohen has some suggestions for what Cohen calls "acceptable and amusing chants" to rankle the Lakers center. Before posting that list, Cohen makes the following disclaimer:
For those attending the game, please keep your emotions in check and do NOT do anything that could cause harm to anyone. Amway Center is a safe environment for everyone, regardless of your team affiliation, to enjoy a fun and entertaining sporting event.
The two suggestions with the most bite reference other Orlando centers. The first, "Shaq was right," recalls Shaquille O'Neal's suggestion that Andrew Bynum, not Howard, is the league's top low-post player. Another, "Nik is better," needles Howard by pointing out the play of second-year Magic pivot Nik Vučević. On New Year's Eve, Vučević set a team record by hauling in 29 boards in a single game, "something," as Cohen notes, "Howard never accomplished."
Cohen offers a few more ideas, but those two above struck me as the most provocative.
Which chant of Cohen's do you believe is the best? Or would you rather see Orlando fans greet Howard with deafening silence instead? Please vote in the poll attached to this post.
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