Rumours of in-house troubles rumble on but Howard is keen to stay
Should they, or shouldn’t they? The rumours surrounding Dwight Howard and the Los Angeles Lakers continue, and questions are still being asked as to whether he should stay.
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The Lakers have undoubtedly underachieved so far this season, as they look to repair the early damage done to their play-off hopes. A recent resurgence has put them back into the picture with a 24-28 record, but doubts remain as to whether Mike D’Antoni is overseeing a happy camp.
Despite rumoured interest from the Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets for Howard, who becomes an unrestricted free agent after this season, word from his camp maintains he wishes to stay in LA.
Desperate for a championship the former Orlando man has some way to go to fully endear himself to the Lakers faithful after questionable performances, injury woes and reported run-ins with Kobe Bryant. The latest of which centred around quotes from Howard Sr. who whilst defending his son also criticised coach D’Antoni and Bryant.
Before that, it was ‘shoulder-gate’, with Bryant telling the media that the Lakers didn’t have time to wait for Howard’s shoulder injury to heal, especially after Pau Gasol had picked up an injury which would see him ruled out for two months. Howard responded by asking if Bryant was now the team doctor.
Despite the best efforts of both men and D’Antoni to dismiss all the reports, it is clear things are far from ideal with the Lakers. There is still unrest, and how that will impact them for the remainder of their season remains to be seen.
However, for now it appears Howard’s immediate future is at the Staples Center. By committing to the Lakers, Howard has shown he still believes that he can be a success alongside his current team-mates while also giving himself an opportunity to prove he has what it takes to deliver and help win games.
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