Before the league shutdown, Dwight Howard was in the midst of one of the most unexpected redemption stories in recent memory. He’d been bouncing around the NBA for several years, unable to stay healthy, unwilling to adjust his game to his waning athleticism, and he was quickly running out of options.
That’s when the most unlikely of options presented itself: a return to Los Angeles, where he’d alienated himself from the entire fanbase amid arguably the ugliest exit of his career. But, nearly a decade had passed, and the city and the organization proved that they could let bygones be bygones.
And before the season went on hiatus, Howard was proving unequivocally that he could be a contributing member to a title team. Naturally, Howard has been forced to field all sorts of questions about what went wrong the first time around, and that holds true even during the shutdown.
In a recent Instagram Live interview with Jared Dudley, Howard addressed what he believes went wrong back in 2012, confirming what most of us already suspected about the clash of titanic egos.
Dwight Howard to @JaredDudley619 over Inta Live: "I really cant speak for Kobe, so I'll speak for myself. In that season that I played here, I think there was a lot of egos that was in the way of us being the team we wanted to be. (part one)
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) May 13, 2020
Howard (part two): "I know that I approached that season wanting to be the best version of myself and also the man. You know, I'm young, I just felt like that at the time. It was really hard for me and Kobe to really communicate. I think we were just at two different stages."
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) May 13, 2020
Howard had teamed up with both Kobe Bryant and an aging Steve Nash in hopes of one final championship run. But with Nash’s ongoing injuries and Howard’s inability to click with Kobe, the season ended in disappointment after a first-round sweep at the hands of the Spurs.
Howard quickly skipped town after that and had become a pariah among Lakers fans. But the chance to team up with LeBron James offered an opportunity — if not to rewrite history — then to correct some of the mistakes of the past. Howard as proving he could be a valuable role player in limited minutes, further endearing himself to a fan base that had previously written him off.
With the league methodically trying to figure out how to resume the season, the Lakers among teams opening their practice facility for voluntary workouts this weekend, although there’s still no clear path for a return. The NBA has said it will make a final decision within the next 2-4 weeks.
