Dwight Howard spent the better part of a year trying to get out of the city of Orlando. After the most nauseating, tiresome, lengthy trade demand saga since the days of the Silk Road, Dwight Howard was finaly sent to the Los Angeles Lakers this summer.
Howard's quest to get out of Orlando played out like a season of Prison Break. The franchise is currently in a state of ruins and will depend on Al Harrington, J.J. Redick and Hedo Turkoglu to bear the scoring burden. Yes, it's that bad in Orlando. But, all is well for Dwight Howard in sunny Los Angeles. To drive the stake further into the hearts of Orlando Magic fans, Howard took out a full page ad in the Orlando Sentinel to thank fans. Try and not laugh out loud and spit whatever drink you are consuming onto your computer screen or mobile device when you read these quotes from Howard:
“Words cannot express the love that I have for Orlando. With your support we have done great things in this city from hanging banners to impacting our youth.
“Although my career with the has come to a close, my love for the city and the people that make it beautiful will never end.”
Excuse me for a second…
The best part about the ad is Howard softening the torturous way he left the Magic organization with the generic "although my career with the Magic has come to a close" like it was some sort of accident that he got traded. At least Howard didn't pledge his loyalty to Orlando this time around, maybe he's learned his lesson. With the way Howard left the Magic, making The Decision look like a slight misunderstanding, isn't a full page ad reminding Magic fans of their pain a bit gratuitous? Maybe Howard's intentions are all fine and dandy, but it's likely a huge chunk of Orlando fans won't see that through their anger and rage and depression.
Below is the ad, which no doubt is being framed in the Magic front office and around the city of Orlando as we speak.
