Dwight Howard Refuses to Stop Smiling

For some reason, a lot of people are bothered by the fact that Dwight Howard likes to smile a lot while playing basketball. After getting blasted through the press by former Los Angeles Laker Robert Horry, Howard defiantly addressed SmileGate. Per the OC Register: “You want a guy to be more focused,’ Horry said, pointing to LeBron James’ no-nonsense demeanor in last season’s playoffs. ‘That’s the kind of guy you want, someone who’s focused, not fun-loving.’ […] ‘It’s made me successful the last nine years,” Howard said. ‘I’m not going to stop smiling. This is what I do for a living. I play basketball, get paid a lot of money to play basketball, something that teachers and police officers and firemen should (get). But I’m getting paid for it, so I’m going to have fun. I don’t care who has a problem with it.’ Howard, 27, said Horry needs to stop criticizing him because ‘I think it’s stupid. I never judged him on how he played. Just because I smile and have fun doesn’t mean I don’t take the game seriously. I came here to win championships. I came here to dominate and I’m going to do it with a smile on my face. I’m going to play the way I want to play.’ Coach Mike D’Antoni said he doesn’t have a problem with Howard’s on-court attitude. ‘If he has 31 points and 16 rebounds every night he can wear a little hat for all I care,’ D’Antoni said. ‘You have to understand Dwight has a personality. That’s him. It’s hard to be somebody else.'”