The All-Star centre reveals how the whole trade saga affected his decisions regarding the treatment of back problems.
Dwight Howard and his trade rumours overshadowed every other activity this summer - literally. And even after the Superman landed in Los Angeles, he continues to hit the headlines.
The All Centre was fed up after years of underachievement at Orlando Magic and was adamant for a way out last season. His relation with the coach, management and ultimately the fans deteriorated to a point of no return. Yet, he
never even thought of quitting on his team while he was in Orlando.
In fact, he went a step ahead.
In a detailed interview after practicing with the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, the big man revealed the extent of his injury ordeal;
"What a lot of people don't know is, when I hurt my back, it affected my nerves to the point where my whole left leg went dead," Howard said. "Basically, I couldn't do a calf raise.
"There was a practice where I couldn't even bend over. I just felt it all the way down my leg. That's when I knew something was wrong. The doctor said, 'If you can't do a calf raise, you need to have surgery.' And I couldn't do
it."
Dwight added that due to the trade microscope, he couldn’t sit out when he should have;
"With all the stuff that was going on," he said, "I didn't want anybody thinking I was quitting on my team or thinking about doing that. But it just got worse. And instead of sitting out, I wanted to keep playing to show everybody
I was still with the team."
Luckily for Howard, the delayed treatment did not aggravate the problem and he recovered at a fast pace after the surgery. Early in the off season, it was expected the Howard will miss at least a month of the regular season, but
the big man is now set to open the season with the Lakers.
He started running right before the training camps and took part in his first 5-on-5 drills last week. The Lakers are putting emphasis on his conditioning at the moment, and it would really come as a surprise if they expose him
to any of the pre-season games.
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