josh howard
Appearing on “The Michael Irvin Show” in Dallas Friday, Maverick Josh Howard admitted that he smokes marijuana during the offseason.
ESPN.com’s Henry Abbot talked to Josh Howard about his use of marijuana more than a year ago.
Now, I’m fine with people debating the relative merits of marijuana. That’s probably healthy. I’m a little sad that people will judge Josh Howard by this one element of his character. Especially when - what is the news here exactly? It’s hard to even find presidential candidates who haven’t done what Howard says he has done.
Today, ESPN is promo’ing the Hades out of a Sportscenter segment on the subject, roughly two hours before Howard’s Mavericks tip off Game on ESPN. Tuned-in Brinson quotes the promo:”And did Josh Howard admit using marijuana in a radio interview? Oh-ho. You bet he did! Don’t miss his shocking comments!” The radio interview? On Michael Irvin’s ESPN Radio show. A year ago, ESPN blogger Henry Abbott published an interview with Josh Howard at ESPN.com.
About a year ago, I had the opportunity to interview the Dallas Mavericks’ Josh Howard. I jumped at it because I knew him to be a frank talker. I have this notion that one thing the world does not need is more athletes saying the same meaningless things again and again. I did a bunch of homework, watched video, and got ready for the interview. It became clear that one big untold story about Josh Howard was how he ended up on the Mavericks at all. He was drafted 29th, even though just about everyone had him ranked as a top ten talent, and he has always played as one. We all knew that, too. It has been reported again and again in various ways. Not too long ago, a Deadspin post cited this very same Josh Howard interview, and declared that pot use was too mundane to get anybody upset anymore. (Another tiny example: check out this interview about the champion 1977 Portland Blazers.) Howard is, by reputation, a straight shooter, and a truth teller. Someone who speaks like a regular guy, even if it means getting his hands dirty once in a while. (We all know that scene from Bull Durham, right, where the veteran teaches the rookie how to never say anything interesting. That is not Josh Howard, and I applaud that.) Now we’re in a situation where the marijuana part of the story has been separated from the “getting to know Josh Howard” part of the story. People by and large thought Josh Howard seemed like an interesting and refreshingly honest guy. Same goes for Josh Howard. He’s one of a zillion pro athlete pot smokers. “Once I hear the interview and talk to Josh about whatever was said, we’ll go from there.” Johnson did add, however, that Howard’s decision to consent to the interview and invite questions on this topic on the day of a playoff game was “what I call poor timing and poor judgment.”
Howard has struggled mightily in the series, averaging 15 points on 29 percent shooting from the floor. The discussion about marijuana with Irvin came at Howard’s urging - as the station stressed repeatedly during subsequent programming - to clarify the statements he made to The Morning News. Asked by Irvin’s co-host, Kevin Kiley, if he fears that his struggles in this series will be linked to his marijuana admission, Howard said: “Oh yeah, I understand that. The Morning News addressed the TrueHoop interview with Howard in an article that appeared in last Saturday’s editions. The Morning News quoted Howard as saying that he received no flak for the interview. When asked to quantify the extent of his marijuana use, Howard told the paper that he got “a little crazy” in high school but uses it “less” now and never during the season.
In response to the interview, Dallas owner Mark Cuban told the Morning News that Howard likely will be disciplined by the team.
