Houston Rockets: Everyone Should Be Unhappy

Every Houston Rockets player, coach and front office member should be unhappy.

Every. Single. One.

That’s why I laughed when I heard Tuesday’s report that Dwight Howard is currently not happy. Here’s what the original report said:

"Dwight Howard is extremely unhappy in Houston playing second fiddle to alpha dog James Harden, multiple league sources tell SheridanHoops.com. And with the Rockets underachieving more than any NBA team, look for them to try to move Howard later this season."

Besides for another two paragraphs about Howard’s usage, or lack thereof, Chris Sheridan just tries to move Howard to the Miami Heat. That’s the whole article.

I, along with much of the local media and Howard himself, am calling BS. Here’s what Howard told reporters following Wednesday night’s loss:

"“I haven’t said nothing to nobody about anything,” said the Rockets center. “People always going to make up lies and rumors. That’s never been my focus. I’m trying to get these guys to play better and get myself to play better so why would I say that to anybody? People are going to say what they got to say to get a story out.People are always going to come up with some kind of rumor and lies,” added Howard. “That’s what it is, you know what I’m saying? I can’t focus on that and I don’t want my teammates to focus on that. I want us to win. We had two upsetting losses. We’re all frustrated because we know we can play better. I haven’t said nothing to anybody — to any reporter or anybody — about being unhappy. That’s all noise.The only noise I want to hear is us winning and getting back to playing better basketball,” said Howard. “All the other stuff is lies and noise to me. People can save it.”"

Let’s start with the original report. Again, I’m calling BS on it. Not the fact that he’s unhappy. That I certainly believe. But there’s a difference between being unhappy at the way things are going right now and being completely unhappy with the situation and wanting out. My guess is that it’s the former, whereas Sheridan and members of the national media are trying to spin it as the latter.

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And regarding Howard’s response, that’s the exact response I expected and wanted. He denied the report while verbalizing his frustration of the season as a whole.

Yes, it’s true Howard has reasons to want out. The Rockets are struggling and he’s barely being used. Through 20 games of playing, Howard is averaging just 12.6 points per game, his lowest since his rookie season. He’s putting up just 8.3 shots per game, the same amount he put up his rookie season and well below his 11.1 FGA per game throughout his career.

Combine his low usage with the Rockets disappointing start and all the criticism that comes with it, and I sure hope Howard is unhappy. But I also suspect every single member of the franchise is unhappy, from owner Leslie Alexander to the fine men and women who clean up hours after a game is over.