Josh Artest

Good lord.

Once upon a time, Josh Howard appeared to be a hard-working basketball player that went about his business with a quiet, unshaken demeanor on the court. Despite being drafted far later than he should have been (29th pick in the first round of '03) and being criticized for having no upside at the time, he improved his numbers every single year. Real stand-up guy: in fact, he declined to play for the 2006 U.S. team in the FIBA Championships because it coincided with his youth basketball camp. Through the first four and a half years of his career, you didn't hear jack about Howard's off-court antics.

Then came the 2008 playoffs.

Right before a must-win Game 3 in their series against the New Orleans Hornets, Howard opened up about smoking pot in the off-season. Okay. I thought the timing on that was weird, but I wasn't about to completely vilify the guy. Remember when Karl Malone said that 70% of the NBA toked up? Illegal as it may be, we all screw up from time to time. Given his past, I gave him a pass (damnit, no pun intended).

Then, after a catastrophic loss in Game 4 of that same series, I believe it was Avery Johnson who called Howard out on his excessive partying during the playoffs or something to that extent (great journalism, I know). I definitely lost some respect for him after that, especially when you compare his numbers during that series to his regular season output. But, hey, he's 28, not 19, Drinking is legal. No one got on pitcher David Wells when he got bombed before a start.

The speeding thing? Okay, so now he not only has gotten into legal trouble, he's also putting his life in danger. Just ask David Wesley how dangerous that can be. Wesley saw one of his teammates, Bobby Phills, die in a drag-racing accident. At this point I was really starting to wonder what had gotten into Howard...

and then...

"Star-Bangled Banner going on right now... I don't even celebrate that [poop]. I'm black, [gosh darnit]."

It's worth saying again. Good lord.

Playing devil's advocate for a minute--someone has to, right--I can understand where he's coming from. If you break it down, maybe it's nothing more than a less politically correct version of what Kanye West said, but on a broader scale spanning generations of mistreatment.

Okay, I'm done. West's reaction was more out of anger than anything else. Howard? Dude was cheesin' the entire time, obviously trying to make a joke that apparently no one found remotely funny. West was voicing his disdain over one person; Howard might as well have said, "F--- America."

Has anyone seen Howard's sanity? If so, please return it to American Airlines Arena in time for the start of the season. I would hate to see such a talented player be remembered more for what he said or did off the court than what he did on the court. I would hate to see a bad four and a half month stretch define his career.

Unfortunately for him, it may be too late.