Sorry can be a hard word to say, but not for Mavs' Howard

Claim to have been misquoted? Read a rehearsed apology?

What he did instead was say, "I'm sorry," like 15 times, and not in some rote, robotic way. He seemed to speak from his heart, like a guy who understands that he really has messed up and wants to start making amends.

"I truly and really am sorry for everything that has happened in the past five months with me," was how Josh began his comments. And this turned into a theme for everything he said.

This is not a lifelong idiot. He only recently had veered into this field, after almost six years of being a pretty good dude in a Mavericks uniform.

"This is not the way I carry myself. It is not the way I want to portray myself," he said. "I truly and really am sorry for everybody I offended. I'm upset with myself and the way I've acted the past months. I truly am sorry."

That is three sorrys in as many sentences for people keeping score at home. And to anybody who says sorry is not enough, well, I guess they have never screwed up. I have, pretty badly a few times. Most of us have, I'm guessing.

And really, how a person handles such screw-ups says as much about them as what they did. "I'm sorry" is a start for Josh. What follows is what matters. Both on and off the court.

His problems a year ago seemed to begin with his game, which death-spiraled down the stretch and crashed and burned in the first-round playoff loss to New Orleans. He played like garbage.

"I think it goes back to the past five months me not concentrating on my job," he said.

Give him an "A" for honesty.

How many local athletes have we all thought this about at some point? Now how many admit to this? What Josh has to do now is follow up his pledge to be better with actually being better.

What is abundantly evident is Josh is on his last chance; even a minor infraction may fray Mavs owner Mark Cuban's seemingly endless patience.

"I told him, 'if you screw up again, I'll kick your behind,' " Cuban said.

And can he kick Josh's butt?

"I'll get help," Cuban said. "I'll outdance him."

This is not going to be necessary. Call this a hunch. Josh just seems to have finally "gotten" it.

"The best way of putting it is I have the biggest block on my shoulder than I plan on knocking off," Josh said.

He plans to play better. He plans to carry himself better. He plans to win back fans.

"I sincerely hope there is a way I can win them back," he added. "I will try to win them back. That is the attitude I carry. Whatever it takes for me to do it, I am going to do it."

He already handled the hardest part.

He admitted being an idiot.

All that remains is no longer acting like one.

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