After call out by Kobe, Dwight Howard goes through shootaround, a "game time decision." Drama ensues.
The official word on Dwight Howard's status tonight is that he went through the Lakers morning shootaround, and is a game time decision. But, the situation is a lot more complicated than that. In an interview with Jackie MacMullan yesterday, Kobe Bryant said the following about his teammate:
"We don't have time for (Howard's shoulder) to heal. We need some urgency. We don't have three years, we've got this year. (Howard) has never been in a position where someone is driving him as hard as I am, as hard as this organization is. It's win a championship or everything is a complete failure. That's just how (the Lakers) do it. And that's foreign to him. When you think about it, there aren't many organizations that look at it that way. There are only two that can really honestly say that's what they live by -- Los Angeles and Boston."
Here's a tweet this afternoon from ESPN Los Angelss Lakers beat writer Dave McMenamin:
Dwight Howard was irritated by questions about his status today. He said he'll be a gametime decision. Emphasized that his career's at stake
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 7, 2013
And shortly after a couple Celtics reporters said the same:
Dwight Howard says won't jeopardize career playing w torn labrum. Says nobody will take care of him if career threatening injury occurs
— Kyle Draper (@kylerdraper) February 7, 2013
Dwight Howard says he won't take long-term risk just to return to save #lakers "This is my career. Nobody else is going to take care of me."
— gary washburn (@GwashNBAGlobe) February 7, 2013
And then more from McMenamin:
Dwight on Kobe pressing him to play: "That's his opinion, that's it. He's not a doctor, I'm not a doctor. That's his opinion."
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 7, 2013
Nash on Dwight: "I think everyone has got to play through some pain in this league ..."
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 7, 2013
My read on this is that Kobe looks like a fighter, and Dwight comes off as a crybaby; which is definitely something they have each been called before throughout their careers. Regardless, the chaos in Lakerland is spectacularly amusing to watch.
Follow Mark on twitter @LucidSportsFan
