Everyone us hyping up this upcoming Lakers season, and for good reason, the starting five consists of stars like Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard. Los Angeles also has an elite point guard in Steve Nash, the talented Pau Gasol and the defensive maestro Metta World Peace. Still, it may be a few months into the season until Lakers fans can see this starting five on the court playing together.
Howard is currently dealing with a back injury and he will miss some playing time in order to rehab. The Lakers are fine with resting Howard and would rather have him wait to hit the court once he’s 100 percent. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak spoke to Sports Illustrated and he talked about Howard’s rehab process. At this point, everything is going as planned and Howard is expected to make a full recovery.
We had the doctors and the back people obviously examine him and he’s on track. He should recover completely.
Lakers Nation reported before that there was no timetable for his return and Kupchak told the interviewer that the team is not targeting a date at which Howard will make his Laker debut.
This current roster has the potential to do some great things next season and the work this front-office has done is quite remarkable. There is no doubt this team is capable of winning an NBA championship and it would mean great things for the players on the team. Nash would finally get his first ring and Kobe Bryant would finally tie Jordan with six titles.
However, all of that may not come to fruition if Howard cannot make a full recovery. It is smart to keep him sidelined for as long as possible and make sure that the injury will not strike him again. Howard is the best center in the league, but he may not be so if he rushed to back on the court.
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In case you missed it – Dwight Howard talks about starting over in Los Angeles.
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