Caught sticky-handed, the Rockets' Dwight Howard wasn't concerned over questions about his using Stickum spray in Saturday's game against the Hawks.
"I've been using it for the last five years," Howard told the Houston Chronicle. "It hasn't been a problem. I don't know why people are making a big deal out of it. I do it every game. It's not a big deal. I ain't even tripping."
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Turns out the NBA is tripping — at least to the point that it is reviewing what happened in Atlanta, according to a report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
With 3:36 remaining in the first quarter, the Hawks' Paul Milsap was shooting free throws. Howard, who had sprayed his hands before re-entering the game moments earlier, grabbed the ball between free throws. When it was handed Millsap, he immediately noted the substance on the ball.
"I've never felt the ball like that ever," Millsap told The Journal-Constitution. "It was sticky. It was like super glue or something was on there. I couldn't get it off my hands. It was the weirdest thing ever."
Referee Monty McCutchen replaced the ball and warned both benches, saying, "Stickum is illegal in the NBA."
According to the Chronicle, he appeared upset when, after warning the Hawks bench, as he headed to the Rockets bench, Houston coach J.B. Bickerstaff slid between McCutchen and the can sitting on the scorer's table.
No penalty was assessed, though the can — whose label was covered with white athletic tape — was removed from the table by a member of the Rockets staff.
The Journal-Constitution, citing an unidentified person, reported that the Rockets didn't produce the can later when asked for it by an NBA official.
