Dwight Howard on Houston: 'I want to make this thing work'

Sam Amick | USA TODAY Sports

SACRAMENTO — The noise is always louder when you’re losing. And, of course, when you’re Dwight Howard.

So it was on Tuesday night in Sacramento, when the Houston Rockets’ latest loss was coming to a close and their embattled big man simply had to say something to the heckler who wouldn’t stop.

"Go look at my résumé," Howard hollered as he stood near the end of the bench at Sleep Train Arena. "Go look at my résumé. All y’all do is talk (expletive)."

As Howard makes his latest return to Los Angeles for a game against his old Lakers team Thursday, the noise that has followed him for so much of his career is back. Rumors are swirling the eight-time All-Star and three-time Defensive Player of the Year is unhappy (again), that he’s eyeing the exits (again), and that he’s not clicking with his superstar teammate (again).

Except for one thing: Howard himself is emphatic that it’s all nonsense. And as was the case with the Kings fan who kept grating on him, he’s shouting back this time because, well, his truth won’t be heard if he doesn’t.

"I chose to go to Houston (via free agency in the summer of 2013), so why would I just say, 'I'm not happy' and leave?" Howard, who is widely expected to become a free agent again this summer, told USA TODAY Sports. "I chose this place, you know what I'm saying? And I want to make this thing work here. Obviously we haven't been playing great basketball, and personally for myself my numbers don't seem like I've been playing great, but the only thing on my mind is trying to grow as a man and grow as a teammate and a leader. All the BS that's around, sometimes it is frustrating to hear it, because I know who I am as a man and I know what I'm trying to do for this city."

What he also knows, and what is so often lost in stories like these, is that context is everything. The Rockets, indisputably, are a team that has gone from reaching the Western Conference finals for the first time in 18 years to a group that — having already had their coach, Kevin McHale, fired 11 games into the season — is now 12-14. Given the circumstances, unhappiness in some form is to be expected.

Add in the fact that Howard is averaging 8.3 field goal attempts per game (the same as his rookie season in Orlando in 2004-05) to go with 12.6 points per game (second lowest of his career), and no one should be surprised that there’s an unsettled feeling to this whole thing.

Especially considering his contract situation.

Howard has a player option for next season worth $23.2 million, but a person with knowledge of the Rockets situation said they are expecting him to opt out and become a free agent. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the situation.

Opting out is all about common sense. At 30 years old, and with the troubled health history of his past few seasons, it behooves Howard to lock up one last long-term deal at superstar money sooner rather than later. And if he’s able to land the maximum-salary deal that rival executives fully expect him to shoot for, the forthcoming spike to the league’s salary cap (from $67 million this season to $89 million next season) means his salary in Year No. 1 of that new deal would be $31.15 million.

What's more, the Rockets continue to see Howard as a pivotal part of their long-term plan and have been quick to dismiss the notion that they'll consider trading him before the Feb. 18 deadline.

But there’s a significant difference between a player working through frustration and a player wanting to jump ship, and that’s the part where it’s worth remembering that we’ve heard this noisy narrative many times before. In what has long since become a trend in the NBA superstar circles, conflict-ridden tales like these seem to occasionally surface for big men like Howard who are represented by power broker/agent Dan Fegan (see the Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan previously, and the Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins currently).

Typically, the kernels of truth that may have been there at the start quickly morph into white-hot popcorn that scorches the player in question on the public relations front. And Howard, whose Orlando Magic chapter already left him labeled as a deserter, has no interest in letting this become another third-degree burn. Alas, he’s speaking for himself here.

Specifically, Howard knows there’s an ill-timed subplot brewing about how he can’t co-exist with fellow All-Star James Harden anymore. But Howard, who missed all but one game in the preseason because of back problems, insists that this is the farthest thing from a repeat of the dysfunctional Kobe Bryant situation that will be front and center yet again in this latest Lakers matchup.

"People can say what they want about me and James and that whole situation, but I came here and the biggest reason was because of him, because I want both of us to grow and be great basketball players and be great teammates together," Howard said. "It's on us to do it. We are the ones who are held accountable for the good things and the bad things that happen to this team, and I came here with that mission, so that both of us can grow.

"He's rising as a star, and I've seen all the things that he's done and I've been through almost all of the things that he's done as a basketball player. And I want to help him grow and reach even higher heights. All the other stuff is just noise. I just hate hearing it."

When asked to characterize the current state of his relationship with Harden, Howard said, “We've got to make it work, you know what I'm saying? And it takes time, but I'm going to do whatever I can to help it grow and just be whatever he needs me to be. To be there for him. So that's my mission.

"(The losing) gets frustrating, but the big picture is us winning a championship, and we have to get better. It starts with me and him. We've got to push each other. We've got to talk to each other. We've just got to be better together. This is why I'm here, so it's going to happen. But right now, we're struggling."

And until that changes, the noise will remain.

"I came here, and it's a mission to make this team a championship team," Howard said. "There's always going to be rumors (and) I don't know what's going to happen at the end of the summer, but right now and since I've been here, the only mission is to help this team win a championship.

"The first year (in Houston), we made it to the playoffs, went out in the first round, and the second year of us being together - me and James - we went to the Western Conference finals. That's big. We may have not won the championship, but after two years of being together and going through all the things that we went through as players, we were still able to make it to the Western Conference finals together. You know, the sky is the limit for us. We've got to put aside anything — all the noise — and just focus on winning.”

Follow Sam Amick on Twitter @sam_amick.