Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard made a life-changing move over the summer by coming to Southern California, but his first few months with the franchise did not go as planned.
Howard spoke to 790 The Ticket with Dan LeBatard, Stugotz and Stan Van Gundy and he talked about his arrival to Los Angeles and the Lakers. Howard underwent back surgery before joining the Lakers and he opted to return from the injury earlier than he really should have. Although Howard played on opening night, it was clear that he was not at full health.
—- It’s a dawn of new era. Check out this wallpaper of Dwight Howard! —-
Howard told the radio show that his poor play at the beginning of the season resulted from the various injuries he had to deal with.
“Earlier in the season, where I didn’t really have the bounce, I wasn’t in great shape and we were losing games. I could just hear people say, ‘Come on Dwight,’ or, ‘They need to get rid of Dwight,’ and all that stuff. I was like, man, this is really hurting because I came back early from an injury and then I was faced with another injury with my shoulder. It was just like everything was hitting me at once. I was at a point where I couldn’t take it anymore. I went back to the basics. I started playing more, working out more and just prayed that it got better.”
The Lakers began the season 17-25 and there was a chance that the team would be watching the postseason from home. However, the team has improved since the All-Star break and are currently the eight seed in the conference with a chance to move up in the standings.
Howard is beginning to look more like the center he was in Orlando and he has been much more consistent for the Lakers as of late. Lakers Nation also got the chance to speak with the center for a very open and candid interview.