No Time to Celebrate

Regardless of what some local media members may believe, I don’t think the “basketball gods” had anything to do with the unfortunate events that effectively ended former Maverick Josh Howard’s season, and possibly his career. Howard collided with Chicago’s Flip Murray in the first quarter of Monday night’s game against the Bulls, tearing the ACL in his left knee. With this being a contract year for Howard, the season-ending injury becomes an even larger factor when determining his future in the NBA.

Although no word has been handed down yet as to whether or not Howard will undergo surgery to repair the torn ligament, some experts have suggested that the severity of this injury could mean Howard will not be ready to play at the beginning of the 2010-2011 season, regardless of his contractual status. As much as I dislike the way Howard had dissed the Mavericks and spoken out recently about how he wanted to “stick it” to them after being traded, I certainly did not wish this upon him, nor would I wish such an injury on anyone – not even Dwyane Wade, my absolute least favorite player in the league.

Even Coach Rick Carlisle, who has consistently taken the high road when discussing Josh Howard, feels terrible about what happened. "I’m very disappointed obviously for him,” Carlisle said. “He’s not deserving of that kind of luck at this point."

And regardless of the trash Josh may have talked or mistakes he may have made, either here in Dallas or once he made the move to D.C., he really doesn’t deserve to go down the way he did. No one does.