Dwight Howard “afraid” to shoot jumpers

HOUSTON, May 20 (UPI) — A basketball player with a $22.3 million salary is afraid to shoot.

Dwight Howard recently admitted his fear when it comes to shooting jump shots, in an interview with ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan.

Howard, 30, has a choice to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Houston Rockets on July 1.

“I used to shoot 1,000 shots a day,” Howard told MacMullan. “I called Kobe (Bryant) when I was still playing in Orlando and asked him what I should do. He’s the one who told me to do take 1,000 a day. So I’d practice and practice them but then I’d be so afraid to take them in a game because I was so worried I would miss. I hate messing up. I hate failure. I was just talking to [WNBA star] Tina Thompson the other day about it. I told her about my fear of missing and she said, ‘Dwight, you’re gonna miss. Everyone does.’ But I want to be perfect.”

Howard also discussed his “reduced role” with the Rockets and questioning management about why he was on the team.

“I don’t like messing up,” Howard told MacMullan. “I didn’t want to turn on the TV and see people say, ‘Dwight is taking all those outside shots, he’s screwing around, he doesn’t care, he doesn’t want to win.’ So that’s the war I’ll be having in my head. I’m working on it. I have a sports psychologist I used in Houston and I have one in Minnesota. If my spiritual and mental game is right, the physical part will follow.”

Howard ironically shot a career-high 62 percent from the field this season, up from 59 percent in 2015. His 8.5 field goal attempts per game were the fewest he has averaged since his rookie season with the Orlando Magic. Howard’s 600 field goal attempts this season were up from 423 last season.