In sports, there must be winners and losers. Often the difference between "winner" and "loser" is an inch here, a lucky break there. However, there are a few players over the course of the modern NBA who always seem (or seemed) to end up on the losing side of battles. Enter the "All-NBA Losers." And Dwight Howard is in danger of becoming one.
C Dwight Howard (nominated 2012)
Justification: 1) Holding team hostage for much of 2011-12 season; 2) Claiming to care about winning, but actually just wanting to be "the man" on his team; 3) Refusing to commit to his team beyond the season until he realized his bargaining power was gone. Class act.
PF Karl Malone (inducted 1998)
Justification: 1) Inability to overcome Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls during the 1990s despite having PG extraordinaire John Stockton at his disposal; 2) Attempted to fast-track his way to a title by joining (and thereby tainting) the 2003-04 Lakers.
Honorable Mention: Shawn Kemp
SF Tyrus Thomas (inducted 2008)
Justification: 1) Thought he was "the guy" on the Bulls; 2) Just lazy.
Honorable Mention: LeBron James. I just don't think he's a loser. He'll eventually win a championship, thereby eliminating him from eligibility. If he doesn't, he'll leap over the high-flying Thomas in a heartbeat.
SG Latrell Sprewell (inducted 2004)
Justification: 1) Choked coach P.J. Carlesimo during practice in 1997, leading to a 68-game suspension;. 2) Literally said, "I have a family to feed … [Timberwolves front office] better cough up some money. Otherwise, you're going to see these kids in one of those Sally Struthers commercials soon" in response to why he rejected a three-year, $21 million contract offer. First-ballot Hall of Fame Loser.
PG Allen Iverson (inducted 2002)
Justification: 1) Practice?
I invented the ANBAL during the 1998 NBA Finals when Karl Malone became the inaugural member. Watching him cough up the ball to M.J. preceding Jordan's famous last shot as a Bull sealed that deal.
Let me be clear, there are many paths to the ANBAL. The only concrete criterion that exists for induction is playing one's entire career without winning a championship. The moniker "loser" is not intended to serve as an insult but, rather, to indicate the fact that these people objectively "lost" when facing the greatest of challenges. Therefore, some of these "losers" could have been among the greatest players in NBA history (e.g., Karl Malone). Dwight Howard is slowly shaping up to be one of these cases.
Though there's only the singular rule for induction, allow me to clarify some other specifics regarding the composition of this team — and why Dwight Howard may end up a member.
1) The individual must either be "the guy" on a team or he must think he's "the guy."
This is the most important distinction for eligibility on this list. Note that Karl Malone is on the roster but John Stockton is not. Of course Stockton did not win either, but having the founding member of the ANBAL on your roster renders your efforts at winning futile. Malone was the scorer on this team. This is also the reason that Gary Payton did not make this list. He had Shawn Kemp on his team for much of the beginning of his career, dragging him down. By the time Payton finally gave himself the best chance (2003-04 Lakers), Malone signed on as a free agent and to destroy Payton's hopes. The Loser Gene is a dominant one and cannot be overpowered by the recessive Winner Gene.
2) The individual's team must not have insurmountable obstacles to winning.
Call this the Reggie Miller Conundrum. The team must have — for all intents and purposes — a roster that should be able to win. His Pacers seemed to overachieve. Iverson's 76ers almost got him off of the hook until I took into account his infamous speech about practice and the fact that late in his career — even when he still had some gas in the tank — no team wanted him.
3) The individual is the clear reason his team didn't win (i.e. lack of clutch ability, failure to be "the guy" that he thinks/thought he is/was).
One player who never won a championship, but always played well under the lights was Patrick Ewing. The Knicks' inability to knock off M.J.'s Bulls was not due to Ewing. He did his part, both statistically and from a "team" standpoint. Name one time that Ewing threw a teammate under the bus.
As you can tell by the aforementioned prerequisites, Dwight Howard is in danger of becoming enshrined — at a very young age — on the ANBAL. He obviously meets the main requirement (zero championships). Not only is he "the guy" on the Magic, but he lacks interest in joining many teams around the league (most notably, Chicago Bulls) arguably out of a fear that his star will be out-shined by another (Derrick Rose).
Winners don't worry about whose star shines brightest — they worry about winning (see: Magic Johnson/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird/Kevin McHale, Jordan/Scottie Pippen, Chauncey Billuos/Richard Hamilton, et al). Though Howard's team is substantially weaker than both the Heat and the Bulls this season, he had an extremely solid core the year he lost the 2009 Finals to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. With Hedo Turkolgu, Rashard Lewis, Tony Battie, and Jameer Nelson, this team could have competed (heck, they beat LeBron's 66-16 Cavs to get there).
Add to the mix that Howard seems to be suffering from a massive delusion of grandeur. Yes, I admit Howard is the most dominant big man in the game right now. Yes, he is a fantastic defender. His physical gifts are out of this world. And you know what? He seems like a pretty good dude. Having said that, his presence on the court does not alter the game the way a Kobe Bryant, LeBron, D-Rose, Kevin Durant, or any other more versatile scorer.
Since Shaquille O'Neal redefined dominance in the early 2000s, big men have done nothing to negate the argument that the NBA is a point guard league now. I cannot stress enough that Dwight Howard potentially being a loser is not an insult, just a fact. Being a charitable, nice human does not disqualify loser eligibility.
There is the possibility that Dwight Howard is simply going through a loser phase (see: Metta World Peace). I accept that Howard might one day prove to be a winner despite what my judgment tells me. However, if not, his status as the starting center for the ANBAL could become solidified by the end of this season — possibly next — at which point organizations should avoid him at all costs. Lest Dwight Howard does to a new team what Karl Malone did his entire NBA career … put up MVP numbers in losing efforts year after year.
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