Were it not for the recent travails of Lance Armstrong, Manti Te’o and Alex Rodriguez, Lakers F Dwight Howard might be the least liked/respected athlete on the national scene. And while Howard’s neither doped nor fallen prey to an imaginary girlfriend, patience ran thin long ago over protracted exit from Orlando, if not his struggles upon arriving in Los Angeles. The Sporting News’ Sean Deveney spoke with Q Scores’ Vice President Henry Schafer in the hopes of putting a number on just how totally sick of Dwight Howard the public has become.
In January 2012, Howard was recognized by 28 percent of those polled, and his Q Score (which measures the familiarity and appeal of celebrities in the country) was 20.
That’s a very good number, considering the average for athletes is about 16.
But by last September, after his strange and miserable season with the Orlando Magic, he was down to 15. And when his Q Score was measured again this January, he came in at a 13.
“That’s a very big drop,” Schafer said. “Considering there was no social indiscretion, you don’t usually see a drop like that. It looks like the last year and everything that has happened has taken its toll. He was popular, but now with all the questions about whether he is compatible with his team and coaches, that seems to be reflected here.”