Dwight Howard had surgery to fix a herniated disc in his back four years ago. He had pain in his back last season with the Houston Rockets, and now that he’s with the Atlanta Hawks, should there be concern over the big man’s lingering injury?
As Howard told the Atlanta Journal Constitution, absolutely not.
Will his health hold up, specifically a back that was surgically repaired in 2012 (he also missed 52 games in his first two seasons in Houston with a variety of ailments, mostly knee)?
“My back hasn’t been an issue, and I don’t think I’ll ever have an issue out of my back for the rest of my career,” he said without pause.
Well, if he said it without pause, then it must be true. After all, everyone knows that when you have a bad back, it never gets worse as you get older. It’s in all the medical journals. And if you had back surgery in your 20s and play professional sports in your 30s — Howard is 30 now — there’s zero chance of ever having back pain again. Just ask Larry Bird.
Kidding aside, what’s Howard supposed to say when asked about his back? “Oh yeah, it’s going to give out at some point and maybe soon. I wouldn’t have signed me.”
Back pain is the worst because anything can set it off and it affects the rest of your body in ways you can’t imagine until you’re on the phone with a doctor because you can’t get out of bed. If he aggravates it lifting a championship trophy, that’s probably fine with the Hawks, though.
