Although the Los Angeles Lakers extended a contract to former Lakers center Dwight Howard at the end of August, they had plenty of questions they asked of him and also still need to see how the answers play out before they fully guarantee his contract next January.
One of those questions the Lakers wanted to ask of Howard was could they count on him to guard the Joel Embiid’s of the world and other post scorers that they may face during the NBA season, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
As was reported before Howard signed with the Lakers, there’s a sense around the future Hall of Famer that he’s hit his professional rock bottom in the league. After lower back and gluteal injuries torpedoed his season last year, he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies before eventually being bought out by the Lakers.
To Howard’s credit, he has kept his head down and refused to take the bait from Shaquille O’Neal last week when O’Neal called him “Dwite.”
As for how this impacts LeBron James, the King has been mum on the Lakers signing Howard. Should Howard become a productive player once again with the Lakers, LeBron’s already strong reputation as a leader would improve once again.
