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In 2009, Dwight Howard led the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals and beat LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers on the way there. Spending years as two of the most dominant players in the Eastern Conference, Howard and James have had a lot of intense battles. After over two decades of combined years of experience, the two now play for the Los Angeles Lakers. However, Howard still is having a hard time wrapping his brain around the idea.
“Man, it’s been wild, man,” Howard said on an Instagram Live with teammate Jared Dudley. “I remember telling my sister, man, me and LeBron been playing against each other since we were 15, 16 years old. And I was like, man, we’ll never play with each other, you know. We always like playing against each other. All of a sudden, we end up teammates. I couldn’t believe it. And I’m like wow, this is crazy, I’m playing with LeBron James. It’s still shocking. … We like brothers from another mother. It’s crazy, it’s crazy.”
Their careers have taken different trajectories as James is still at the top of his game, but Howard has seen his role reduced. However, it would be poetic if the two former rivals could win a title together while playing for the same team.
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Howard’s Accepting New Role
After spending years as one of the most dominant centers in the NBA, Howard has found a very new role with the Lakers. He’s averaging career lows in points and minutes played a game. That said, he knew what he was getting into when he came back to Los Angeles and has no complaints.
“Coming back to the team, I just said, ‘You know what? I don’t care about anything. I don’t care about how many points I score, how many rebounds I get, who gets the praise, how many minutes I play, if my name is going to be in the newspaper, or any of that stuff. I don’t care. None of that stuff even matters — there’s no ego. Just go in there and do whatever the team is asking you to do. If that’s running up and down the court and playing great defense, if that’s on the bench being the biggest cheerleader, if that’s throwing up the toss for LeBron for the powder before the game, just do it wholeheartedly and not worry about what people might say about it.’ That was just my mindset coming into the whole situation, and it’s worked out great.
“It’s hard. It was hard at first, having to accept it and letting all that stuff go, but once I did it, it was like the best thing in the world. It’s like freedom.”
Howard’s ego has clearly taken a backseat and that’s been great for the Lakers. His first stint with the team was mostly a disaster, but he’s doing a lot to make up for that. He’s been one of the most efficient players in the NBA during his limited minutes. Though he is far removed from his days as an All-Star, his ability to reinvent himself has played a big role in the Lakers’ success.
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