On Sunday, Yahoo! Sports reported that Dwight Howard is no longer represented by Aaron Goodwin of Goodwin Sports Management (GSM). If you're unfamiliar with GSM, it's a Seattle based sports agency that represents almost two dozen NBA and WNBA players including Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Jamal Crawford, and Candace Parker. Although it's unknown who's going to handle Dwight's business ventures moving forward, rumors suggest that the chosen ones are friends and family.
D. Howard has been a GSM client since he was drafted in 2004. Since then, GSM has successfully marketed Dwight, building an empire stacked with a $20 Million-a-year endorsement portfolio. D. Howard lends his likeness to major brands such as Adidas, Gatorade, McDonald's, NBA Live, T-Mobile, and Ed Hardy (cough...no comment...cough). He also has a role in the movie, Just Wright starring Queen Latifah and Common, which hits theaters May 14th.
With all of this success, one may think that Dwight is losing it for leaving GSM at such a high point in his career, not to mention in the middle of the playoffs. A small part of me agrees, but a larger part of me thinks the Olympic Gold Medalist will be just fine. Remember when Lebron caught flack for leaving GSM to also have his friends handle his business deals? Well, so far it seems that things have turned out pretty well for the King. Don't you agree?
See, generally, the hardest part about locking in deals is convincing major corporations of an athlete's marketing potential. Once you're able to do that, and you secure at least one deal, offers start to flow in. Dwight has had no problem selling corporations on his on-the-court skills. Like Lebron, he's lived up to the hype after transitioning from high school to the league. What's better, last year Dwight took his team to the NBA Finals, also showcasing his ability to lead, while responding to critics who outed him for being too playful during games and not serious enough to lead the Magic to the promise land.
Additionally, Dwight hasn't succumbed to the off-the-court evils which usually compromises an athlete's image and marketability. Dwight (and Lebron for that matter) has seemingly mastered that part too. With that said, it appears there's nowhere to go but up.
All of the hard work was done by GSM. They've designed a blueprint for success when it comes to Dwight. They've successfully built D. Howard's blemish-free image. Well, semi-blemish-free if you don't count the somewhat public feud with the mother of his son, which has resulted in Dwight suing his ex-girlfriend, former Orlando Magic dancer, and current cast member of VH1's Basketball Wives, Royce Reed. But yeah, with that aside, Dwight has the perfect image!
Hopefully, this questionable decision works out for the best. If Dwight is smart, he has learned a thing or two from GSM over the years. In fact, him and the new team should really thank GSM for doing all of the dirty work. If Dwight stays at the top of his game, out of trouble, and things between him and the ex don't get messy(er), everything from here on out should be easy, breezy. I doubt that Dwight would lose any major deals as a result of new management.
Aside from starting charities in his name, most of Dwight's business deals have come by way of endorsements. It'll be interesting to see if Dwight's new handlers have him pursue new business development opportunities. Many athletes have tried and many have failed. I guess time will tell where this decision ranks Dwight among sports' most business savvy. I'll definitely be keeping score.
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