We all have recently just woken up from the terrible, terrible “Dwightmare” as reporters and people have called it for the past two and a half years. For people who do not know, “Dwightmare” was a name given to the incredibly frustrating situation surrounding Dwight Howard. It started, what seems like ten years ago, when Howard was still in Orlando. There were rumors and quotes from Dwight and other sources that he was feeling incredibly frustrated in Orlando and requested a trade to one of three teams, The, then-New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, or the Dallas Mavericks. Seems simple enough right? He had played in Orlando for seven years at that point and they had gone to the finals in 2009 and it seemed like maybe it was time for them to part ways. Wait, you thought things were going to be this easy and straight forward with Dwight Howard?! After many rumors and many conflicting statements and so, so many rumored quotes from Dwight basically saying how he hated the then-coach, Stan Van Gundy, the “Dwightmare” only grew. Teams were shedding cap space and were doing everything in their power to woo the Orlando Magic into trading Dwight. Then a bomb dropped. Dwight decided to opt into his last year of his contract and play out his final year with Orlando. This blew everyone’s mind and it seemed to come out of nowhere. It smelled of Dwight wanting to be liked by everyone and not wanting to piss people off. Unfortunately, Dwight opting in for the year did not stop the “Dwightmare”, in fact, it only increased it. We had a whole other year of listening to constant rumors and teams who were trying to get into the sweepstakes to grab him. Not a fun time at all.

Dwight had to undergo surgery that would sideline him for the rest of the 2011-2012 season and it would also prevent him from going to London to compete in the 2012 Olympics. It seemed like such a weird exit from Orlando. There was no “final game” or big exit for him. He got injured and that was it. The following summer was a storm of predictions and reporters trying to get any hint on where Dwight Howard was going to go. Howard had requested yet another trade to the Brooklyn Nets and was threatening to become a free agent if the Magic did not trade him. People were still not really counting out Orlando as Dwight seemed to be very unpredictable in his decision-making. After all, he seemed to hate Orlando a year prior and yet opted in to give it another go.

Eventually, the Magic traded Dwight Howard to who else, but the Los Angeles Lakers. It is always the Lakers isn’t it? Combining the talents of Howard, Kobe, and the newly-acquired Steve Nash seemed to be a lock for the finals. I had some lingering doubts to all this. Not only do I not like the Lakers, but I was seriously thinking in the past about the last time the Lakers tried this. The 2003-2004 Lakers tried the whole “superstar team-up” with trying to team up Karl Malone and Gary Payton with Kobe Bryant and Shaq. They did get to the finals, but ultimately lost. I did not think this was going to be a lock and Dwight seemed to have a negative aura around him from that point on.

I was kind of right when the Lakers barely made it to the playoffs and promptly got swept by the Spurs in the first round. What a lack-luster ending to a season that Dwight and everyone thought was going to climax into a finals visit. The other thing that struck me was how Dwight’s last game as a Laker ended. He ended up getting ejected in Game 4 in a blowout game at the StaplesCenter. Considering how his “last game” in Orlando went, this seemed like the worst way to go out. The Lakers were hoping to woo Howard into staying and be another one of the Lakers’ historic centers and it seemed like everything that could wrong, went wrong. I have to admit, it was funny to watch the train wreck, yet it was sad to see that the “Dwightmare” really never went away. The Lakers did not start well and they never really took off. So people were constantly asking the question if Dwight was really the right fit and it seemed like Dwight was very dissatisfied with Mike D’Antoni as a coach and it was Orlando all over again.

Fortunately, we only had to deal with about one more year of this. Right? Again, the sweepstakes continued as multiple teams shed cap space and went hard at Dwight Howard. What I thought was interesting was even though the Lakers were able to offer him more money, I felt like the Lakers did not have the advantage like they normally did in big name deals. Dwight’s issue, at that point, was the Lakers themselves and he wanted to win. I kept thinking about how there was no way Dwight would stay with the Lakers. Does he want to be the youngest guy on a dying team? He never seemed like he wanted to be there and his averages were down for that year. He only averaged 17.1 points and 12.4 rebounds a game, which is low for Dwight’s standards. He hadn’t averaged that since the 2006-2007 season three years into his career.

Fortunately, it seemed like Dwight grew up and was able to handle the next off-season with a bit of maturity and more certainty. He seemed like he knew what he wanted and he knew where to get it. He did not let outside sources really sway him and it was a relatively quick decision. Dwight did scare us by supposedly backing out of his decision to play with Houston and was “on the fence” between the Rockets and the Lakers. We all later learned that he was just flying to LA to tell the Lakers “no” in person. He did choose to go to Houston to play with James Harden and Chandler Parsons and it seemed like the “Dwightmare” was finally over.

I haven’t been following basketball for very long, but throughout this whole ordeal I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I had ever watched. I know there are many aspects to choosing the right team and finding the right situation, but it seemed like Dwight couldn’t do it, at least the first time. I was glad to see that his decision this off-season did not drag on for months and leave everyone on the edge of their seats. He seemed to legitimately choose a team to suit his needs and who has a great shot at contending for a title in the next couple of years. Hopefully we will not hear in three years how he is “uncomfortable” again and we have to endure the sequel, “Dwightmare 2: The Dwightening”. We shall see what the future holds for the superstar, but one thing is for sure, next off-season will be Dwight-free for once. That should excite a lot of people.