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Juwan Howard Does A Very Stupid Thing

I wasn't sure what to make of it when I heard it this morning as I woke up. Maybe Juwan was drowning his sorrows over his recent shooting slump, or maybe to dull the pain of the sprained ankle he suffered in Saturday's game against the Pacers.

Whatever it was, it didn't warrant getting too drunk to drive. Juwan Howard was arrested this morning at 22nd and M Streets, NW at 3:45am. He was pulled over for speeding, and the arresting officer then also decided to book him on DUI. His court date is scheduled for December 6.

After practice today, Juwan Howard made the following statement: "First of all I want to apologize to everyone that supported me in any way. This is truly a big embarrasment for me personally and for my family and also for the Bullets organization. I understand that we all have to follow rules and regulations."

General manager Wes Unseld, on behalf of the Bullets organization, accepted Juwan's apology: Juwan is "deeply affected and hurt. He realizes he made a mistake. It's one of those things young guys make sometimes. I think we will accept Juwan's statement that he made a mistake and let him go on. ... accept his promise this will not happen again."

Why did he do this? We don't know yet. But the responsibility falls all on himself. Whatever funk he was in may just get a little worse, although we all hope not. We all make mistakes, let's hope he's grown up enough to learn from this one.

Juwan Must Realize He's Special

Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon captures the essence of why this is such a big deal for Howard.

That was what I published yesterday. More details are available today. He was at a party at Lulu's, on 22nd Street, NW, hosted by Hounds Productions, an organization that puts together celebrity-based events. Depending on who you talked to, the event ended at either 2 am, as required by city law, or 2:45 am. Some party members, reportedly including Howard and possibly Webber, congregated outside Lulu's after it closed.

Now we get into strictly rumor stuff. Supposedly, there was a confrontation between Howard and a police officer prior to Howard leaving Lulu's where words were exchanged. Also, supposedly some of Webber's friends got bounced from the party. Whether this had any impact is hard to say, but doubtful.

What is disturbing is that supposedly Howard only had about 4 drinks during the 4 hours he was there. Were they extra strong drinks? I don't know. A police source said that Howard was "a little" over the limit, "nothing big," when he failed the Breathalyzer test at the police station.

Howard reported to practice on Monday at 11 am on time and completed the practice, then had these words to say (an extension of what was said above): "First of all, I just want to apologize to everyone that supports me in any kind of way. This is truly a big embarassment for me personally and for my family and also for the Bullets organization. I understand that we all have to follow the rules and regulations. I don't want to see this ever happen again - to no one. As far as the future is concerned, I'm going to continue to be myself and let everyone know that I'm not perfect."

The Bullets said that Howard broke no team rules and will not be punished. He will play in Tuesday's game against Detroit. So, the team moves on, and so should we. Howard will probably get probation and community service out of this one. I'm not sure if he automatically loses the license or not.

wtf 12 November 1996

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