It aint easy being brilliant...

I have heard all too many people say that since my beloved Lakers currently own Dwight Howard’s Bird Rights and can therefore offer him more money than other team on the free agent market, we are a lock to resign Howard at the end of the 2012-13 season.

Silly people…

Have you HONESTLY forgotten about LeBron James taking LESS money to bolt Cleveland for Miami only 2 years ago?

By your logic, Dwight Howard would’ve ultimately resigned with the Magic had they held on to him for the entire season because they could pay him the most money.

Does ANYBODY REALLY believe that was going to happen??

No chance in hell.

Because guys like LeBron James and Dwight Howard KNOW what far too many casual observers either A)Don’t know B)Forget C)Ignore….

In a day in which endorsements exist, particuarly if you are already a marketable player, a contract with a team simply isn’t as important.

Dwight Howard is now a household name.

He’s gonna get commercials, he’s gonna get a shoe deal, Subway seemingly likes to ink every professional athlete under the sun regardless of whether or not they are relevant, and I’m sure some sports/energy drink will make a run at him as well.

In the end, a contract won’t factor into this in the least. That only happens with players without any widespread appeal who rely soley on basketball for all of their income.

If Howard wants Dallas come season’s end and Dallas wants him, he WILL leave.

In the modern day NBA, with players of Dwight Howard’s stature, the Bird Rights are nothing more than a gimmick to make small market teams think they have a shot at retaining superstars that they drafted when their franchise was at an all-time low.

All we can do in Los Angeles, is bust our asses to win a title and show Howard that LA is indeed the place for him to be. Perhaps then we can convince him not to do what I believe he already has his mind set on doing. That is, leaving in the Summer of 2013 to join the Dallas Mavericks.

So why was Howard smiling so big during the press conference? Simple. Because with the Lakers, he has an opportunity to win a title during the one year between himself and the Mavericks. He would’ve never had that opportunity in Orlando.