The Los Angeles Lakers Basket Ball Team has received a lot of press recently for having put together what some are calling a dream team. Off season trades and deals have left the Lakers with a different look than their fans are accustomed to.
Now in pre-season play the Lakers are doing something else that leaves their fans a bit distressed. They are losing every game so far and now stand at 0-6 for the pre-season with the tip off for the regular season coming up quickly on October 30. Some might think that this should be cause for concern…..but not the Lakers. All you hear from them these days is how well everything is going and when a closer look is taken we can begin to see why. There is a camaraderie there that probably has opponents wondering why these guys are smiling.
After eight years in Orlando and six months rough of recovery from back surgery, Dwight Howard returned to an NBA court Sunday night on a new coast and wearing a new gold uniform. Now Dwight Howard is a genuine super star without question and he surely is not accustomed to being on the funning side of a joke, but the Lakers pulled a good one on him when the team was preparing to run out before the game at Staples Center in Los Angeles. They put Howard at the front of the line to run on the court and then everybody else just stayed in the tunnel while Howard ran onto the court all by himself, getting a huge ovation and a great big laugh from the crowd. One of the other Laker newcomers Steve Nash pulled the prank spontaneously when he saw Howard leading the lineup.
“I just grabbed Pau and held him,” the two-time MVP said with a grin.
Howard and Nash both got loud ovations from the packed Staples Center stands during introductions, although the biggest cheers were reserved for Kobe Bryant.
The point is, if there is discontent on a ball club, if the players are not all on the same page as far as team goals go, little jokes like that never, never happen.
Howard immediately made an impact, getting an assist on Bryant’s 3-pointer on the Lakers’ first possession. Howard then threw down a delicate two-handed dunk on the Lakers’ second possession with an alley-oop pass from Gasol. This could very well become a sight that might be awfully common this season. Lakers fans are already licking their chops in anticipation!
The full meaning of the moment finally hit the normally playful big man during pregame introductions in front of fans who gave him a standing ovation before his first basket for the Los Angeles Lakers. “I actually shed a couple of tears,” Howard said. “During the starting lineups, one of my teammates caught me, so I tried to hide it, but I was just excited. It is really emotional, because I hadn’t been on the court in a while. I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s a very humbling experience.”
Howard had 19 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots in his Lakers debut.
