The Los Angeles Lakers centre who pushed his way out of Orlando Magic last season reveals that the injury he had suffered at the end of his Magic stint was more serious than many people think it to be…
When Dwight Howard decided to pull out of the Orlando Magic side during the last few games of the season, and eventually the playoffs, there were many people who doubted the motive.
For them, the reasoning was plain – Dwight was doing it to let Magic know that he was no longer interested in playing with the team, and wanted out at the earliest. Little did they know, that the herniated disc in his back could
have ended Howard’s career.
The herniated disc in his back did enough damage to his left leg, and could have forced D-12 to take an early retirement. The centre, who underwent a surgery to repair the ailment on April 20, revealed that while talking to NBA.com’s
Scott Howard-Cooper.
“I did for a couple days,” Howard said on Saturday night after the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors in overtime.
“When I got hurt, I lost my whole left leg, basically, from my nerves,” he said.
Howard added that he would have loved to continue and do the best for Magic in his last days at Orlando, but that would have been on the cost of his career;
“If I would have waited until after the season (to have the operation), if I would have tried to continue to play, then I probably wouldn’t be able to play anymore. I had to do it right away. I didn’t want to risk my career for
some playoff games. They were important for me, but my health is important.”
The centre was expected to be fit sometime in November, but made a quick recovery and has so far started all the games for Lakers, averaging 17.8 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. Howard however asserted that he is
still not 100 percent and will need sometime before he could deliver his best. The Lakers would certainly be hoping that time comes soon.
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