Usually I’m not one to jump on the bandwagon for publicly chastising professional athletes, but Dallas Maverick’s Forward Josh Howard is the epitome of what is wrong with basketball and youth mentality for today (wow what an eloquent speech, where did that come from…lol).

In the past professional athletes and celebrities would act “above the law.” They knew they had special privileges and abused them. I don’t think this is the case any more (even though I question Mark Cuban’s ability to handle this problem internally). After decades of abusing these privileges, some have smoked, snorted, injected, etc, etc, themselves stupid for future generations. In Howard’s most recent admission of drug use in the off-season, I think he proved my point very well. His team is in the middle of losing a very important playoff series, the future of the roster is in question, and Josh Howard goes and talks about his pot smoking does not hinder his performance and that the NBA doesn’t have a right to choose his off-season recreation. Howard wasn’t saying that he was special or above anyone, he was just admitting that he makes stupid choices and doesn’t think he is wrong.

Well Josh, last time I checked it was still illegal to do drugs even in the off-season. While you most likely won’t get caught or in real trouble for it, you should at least have the common decency to respect your position as a profession athlete and be a respectable role model. If smoking pot makes you happy, then pull a Ricky Williams and go off to some holistic camp or move to Amsterdam.

I always assumed that Howard was just another punk. He seems to play basketball for himself with little regards to team wins. While he is having the greatest statistic year of his career, I believe that is more opportunity than it is real development.

I will conclude this rant by claiming that I might be a little biased on this whole situation. I have seen my hometown team the Indiana Pacers destroyed after having a bunch thugs, drug users, and “idiots”destroy the team. t is my hope that one day NBA owners and commissioner David Stern will realize the impact of its league and players and will ban “idiots” like Howard, David Harrison, Shawne Williams, Jamal Tinsley, Chris Anderson, etc.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled tranquility.