Funny man Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic has recently landed himself a $15,000 fine for badmouthing officials in his personal blog. Dwight, making comments such as "how can that be, ya'll? It was crazy. They called me for a charge on a flop, a push off when the defender was on me and two fouls on blocked shots" in regards to fouling out after playing about 16 minutes, did so after an Orlando VS. Detroit game last week. Dwight, obviously angry, also posted that he had not played "that little in a game since I was 10 years old in pee-wee ball" and that "what really bothers me is they are letting guys hammer me at one end of the floor, yet I'm being called for everything."
True, every player disagrees with a few calls made here and there, and are sometimes right and sometimes wrong about them, but should a player really be fined for taking his opinion to his own blog? This seems a little bit overboard to me, seeing as Dwight did not attack a specific official, team, or other player, but rather simply expressed his anger over the situation as a whole. And seeing as he also did not make any claims that Orlando should have won the game or that these calls were the reasons behind their loss, why the league would take the time to worry about something like this is beyond me. Have we really reached a point in time where freedom of speech, especially over a personal blog, does not exist?
I understand the league wants to make sure their officials are treated well, especially after what happened this summer and the NBA having to run off of replacements for a while, but personally I think this entire matter is a bit juvenile and Dwight Howard should not feel an ounce of remorse for what he blogged.
NBA, lets lighten up and not make players regret they ever joined the league. Let them do good with their money through organizations like NBA Cares, or even provide for their own families rather than throw it out the window for a senseless cause.
And Dwight, keep on blogging. We all love you.
