Future Basketball Corridor of Famer Dwight Howard spent the week defending himself from sexual assault and battery accusations in civil courtroom. It’s uncommon for a protection to be the headline, however in Howard’s case, he took the drastic measure of admitting that the July 2021 encounter along with his accuser, Stephen Harper, was a consensual one. In response to courtroom paperwork obtained by ESPN, Howard claimed he engaged in consensual sexual exercise with Harper at his Georgia house.
Howard didn’t come out on his personal. Harper’s preliminary criticism included screenshots of an alternate between him and Howard, along with an Uber receipt corroborating elements of Harper’s allegations about their relationship. In July 2022, Harper filed an incident report with the Gwinnett County Police Division.
In a single alleged alternate, Howard vehemently denied being homosexual whereas concurrently arranging a hookup. Harper alleges that Howard demanded a threesome and that Howard carried out oral intercourse with out consent and later pressured him to do the identical. Howard denied these allegations via his lawyer Justin Bailey, who asserted that Harper’s swimsuit was preceded by an extortion try.
“The reality is Mr. Howard blocked Mr. Harper on social media after which was confronted with two choices — pay to guard his fame or have a fabricated story made public. Regardless of being a straightforward goal as a result of material and his standing as a celeb, Mr. Howard selected to belief within the justice system and can depend on all future courtroom filings to talk for themselves,” Bailey informed ESPN.
The civil case will proceed to play out, but, there’s additionally the second half of this to unpack. A former No. 1 general choose, three-time Defensive Participant of the 12 months, and future Corridor of Famer got here out of the closet — deliberately or not — and it barely drew a point out nationally outdoors of Stephen A. Smith squeamishly studying via the report and poking enjoyable on the particulars on his YouTube present.
One cogent thought Smith raised is the chance that groups have averted Howard to evade the distractions that may comply with a participant of his stature popping out earlier than or throughout the season. Contemplating Harper filed an incident report across the time Howard’s profession got here to a screeching halt in 2022, there’s a very actual risk that groups caught wind of the lawsuit. Howard has sought alternatives to revive his NBA profession, however has been shunned, apart from a September exercise for the Golden State Warriors that ended up being a dud.
Groups have seemingly collectively determined Howard is just too far over the hill to contribute on the courtroom and too sophomoric to function a veteran affect on the bench or locker room. But, the thorny circumstances behind his disclosure about his sexuality warranted extra of a point out than it’s obtained. The trio of NBA gamers who had beforehand come out had been journeymen corresponding to Jason Collins, John Amaechi, and Isaac Humphries. If Howard’s assertion and Instagram Dwell video acknowledging his non-hetero preferences weren’t accompanying a sexual assault allegation, he’d possible be receiving reward in lots of corners aside from awkward silence.
There have been constant whispers about Howard’s sexuality for greater than a decade. However as an athlete hailing from a churchgoing household within the South, he had double the explanation to stay on the down low. A lot of it was rumour that couldn’t be substantiated nor did it rise to a stage of journalistic scrutiny. These scoops shriveled up and died on the vine as fodder and content material for the bottom frequent denominator web rags. Most importantly, in 2018, Howard was accused of threatening a person who mentioned Howard cheated on him. Howard referred to as these allegations “false,” and in an interview with Fox Sports activities, adamantly denied being homosexual and defined that the rumors made him “by no means wish to come outdoors once more.”
In that context, Howard’s ongoing civil trial is a lose-lose. Below the best-case state of affairs, his belief was breached and he was pressured out by somebody seeking to make the most of his secret. Worst case, he sexually assaulted a person in his house, is dodging blame, and has escaped felony culpability. It’s a salacious story which is made much more awkward by the truth that he can be essentially the most outstanding American professional athlete to come back out of the closet.
The irony of Howard’s predicament is that he started his profession as a God-fearing 18-year-old, No. 1 general pick of personal Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. The DeVos household, which owns the Orlando Magic, has been extra clear than most in regard to their involvement in Christian causes, together with, however not restricted to controversial anti-gay organizations.
If groups have been avoiding Howard, it possible isn’t due to the sexual assault swimsuit. Derrick Rose fought extra critical allegations in civil courtroom on the nadir of his profession, however by no means fell out of the rotation. At present, Miles Bridges was arrested a second time for violating a protecting order only one yr after savagely beating his spouse. The NBA has hardly ever proven concern for addressing offenders inside their ranks.
Howard basically popping out as homosexual or bisexual when he was a highschool phenom, throughout the marquee participant stage of his profession, and even when he was a contributor off the bench, would have been a big information bulletin. This week, his assertion was a blip. Howard was flushed out of the league after the 2022 marketing campaign by the Lakers and spent a lot of final season in Taiwan. He nonetheless holds the Magic profession report for complete factors, rebounds, and blocks, and led them to the NBA Finals in 2010. The comparatively muted response to Howard’s admission to consensual sexual exercise with one other man is both an indication that society has advanced sufficient that the coast is obvious for homosexual professional athletes or that the NBA’s chilly shoulder labored.
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