Unlikely Voice Sheds Light on Howard Situation

No one’s been quite able to figure out the exact nature of the Josh Howard controversy. Bad judgment? Anti-Americanism? Poor taste? Exposing fans to what they don’t want to hear? As Shanoff notes, Mark Cuban’s playing the “Josh, step away from the camera phone” line, which strikes me as kind of a cop-out. Like, it still exists, and has kicked up some pretty strong emotions.↵
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↵But in the midst of all the noise, an unlikely rider has come into town to light the way and bring us all together (sic upon sic upon sic):↵↵⇥“I think josh howards comment is a reflection on education. I think the schools need to teach deeper in the history classes and make the students aware of racism but also teach them that all people are not bad. I can relate to not feeling wanted by my own country at times but as I dug deeper I realized that America is divided and we need leaders to bring America closer together. An example where I felt unwanted by my country was when I didn’t get a chance to tryout for my national team. I believed it was because my history.↵⇥
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↵⇥I hope he overcomes this.↵⇥
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↵⇥Family 1st”↵↵Who is this seer, this unifier, this figure determined to make both sides understand each other while locating the turmoil within himself? None other than Ron Artest, emailing the Bee. Talk about the world being turned on its head. Of course, Artest’s been known to say stuff, and then abruptly retract or contradict it. But there’s some real weight here, not to mention -- and this is the most shocking part -- a calmness that was totally absent from Howard’s pre-game mouthing off, and thus, a chance to actually be heard by both sides equally.↵