Jeanie Buss: When Dwight Howard was with the Lakers, ‘we let him down’
Oct 29, 2014, 1:35 PM EDT
Getty Images We’re two summers removed from Dwight Howard‘s decision to leave the Lakers in free agency, but with he and Kobe Bryant facing each other on the court for the first time since then on Tuesday, everything evidently needed to be rehashed one last time.
The Rockets cruised to victory, of course, because L.A.’s roster is in shambles following the team’s recent inability to attract star players in free agency. And not surprisingly, Bryant and Howard got into a bit of a dust-up late, where Bryant could be seen telling Howard to “try me” multiple times.
Afterward, both players downplayed the incident. But it’s clear they don’t like each other, and that undoubtedly was a primary reason for Howard choosing to play somewhere else.
But Lakers president Jeanie Buss believes that there were other factors at play, including the franchise not giving Howard its full support from day one.
From Sam Amick of USA Today:
“To me, from Day One, Dwight’s aspiration was to win a championship,” Buss said. “And when we got him, that day my phone started ringing and (fans) were like, ‘I want to buy tickets to see Steve Nash and Dwight Howard and the Lakers are going to win a championship. I want to buy tickets to one game.’ So I said, ‘You know what? If you’re going to go to one game, wait until January because my understanding is that Dwight’s back isn’t 100 percent and he might not be playing until later, so I don’t want you to come to one game and miss him.’
“So I couldn’t understand from the first day of training camp how he was practicing. But you know why? Because he was so eager to win that championship. That’s all he wanted. He came with the best of intentions. He was great with the media. He was great with all of our charity, all of our events, all of our sponsors, all of our partners. He came one day because he wanted to meet all of the employees. He just wanted to meet the employees. This was a guy who came (to the Lakers), and we let him down. That’s how I felt.”
What Buss is referring to specifically is Howard’s physical condition following back surgery the summer before coming to Los Angeles, and how the team perhaps should have been a bit more cautious and allowed Dwight some additional recovery time before pressing him into action.
But by now, we all know that it wouldn’t have mattered in terms of how the season would have unfolded, or would have affected his decision in the slightest.
The reality is that Bryant and Howard are far too different to coexist on the same team. And the way the organization supported (or didn’t support) Howard couldn’t possibly have done anything to change that.
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- HitsDingers - Oct 29, 2014 at 1:43 PM
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Pretty big of Jeanie to admit that. It would have been easy for her to throw Dwight under the bus.
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- ranfan12 - Oct 29, 2014 at 3:38 PM
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Yeah, she even admitted she snapped during the game. She’s one of the few sensible in the front office.
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- andrewwiggins22 - Oct 29, 2014 at 1:43 PM
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Enough of the Dwight’s Lakers-era story please!
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- miamibeatles - Oct 29, 2014 at 2:01 PM
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People overlook the fact that Bernie Bickerstaff went 5-0 when Mike Brown was fired. He should have been given more time.
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- ranfan12 - Oct 29, 2014 at 3:33 PM
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Hiring someone with a good record just isn’t their style anymore. I wonder who was behind that…
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- azarkhan - Oct 29, 2014 at 2:16 PM
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7 stories on the abysmal Lakers in the first two days of the season; 493 more
Laker stories to go before we reach the end of the season.
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- ranfan12 - Oct 29, 2014 at 3:07 PM
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Hollywood drama
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- asimonetti88 - Oct 29, 2014 at 3:31 PM
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Does that mean 493 more comments from you complaining about articles you took the time to open read and comment on?
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- azarkhan - Oct 29, 2014 at 4:15 PM
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What’s the matter Ms. Simonetti, that time of the month for you?
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- billtetley53 - Oct 29, 2014 at 4:26 PM
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Azarkhan: Its Vanessa Monetti’s time of the month 24/7/365. Here and that crying musician0785. Nothing butvcrying and moaning all of the time with those 2.
Invest in Kleenex and Midol, during this season, those stocks will skyrocket.
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- asimonetti88 - Oct 29, 2014 at 10:00 PM
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Says the guy commenting on a story he doesn’t care about.
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- bballhistorian - Oct 29, 2014 at 2:27 PM
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Dwight came back early because he wanted to prove to Kobe (and the Lakers fans) that he could play with pain…because thats what Kobe does.
That was Dwights 2nd biggest mistake.
Honestly he couldve sat out that entire season because that type of injury/rehab takes 1 1/2 seasons…but he HAD to play in LA because of the expectations + it being a contract year for him. It was just bad timing.
Dwight’s biggest mistake will always be the night he decided to opt into the remainder the Orlando contract halfway through the 2010-2011 season, instead of going to Brooklyn in the trade (because he didnt want to be perceived like LeBron). It’s been a PR nightmare for him ever since….
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- Hard On For Harden - Oct 29, 2014 at 3:08 PM
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This isn’t true, he opted in because they threatened to trade him to the Hardenless Rockets.
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- redhotpursuit - Oct 29, 2014 at 5:22 PM
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Howard didn’t reject,a trade to Brooklyn, Orlando did. They didn’t like the package the Nets had to offer. He could have signed outright with Brooklyn but I don’t think they had the cap space to give him the contract he wanted. Besides if he did sign with the Nets for let’s say 4 years, the Magic still had the right to match at that time, because he was a Restricted free agent. So he could’ve ended up stuck in Orlando with a 4 year deal.
So the ONLY sensible option was to opt into the last year of his contract & go wherever he wanted to go as a Unrestricted free agent the following year. Orlando knew if they couldn’t improve the team THAT year, he wouldn’t resign with them after his contract was up. So they traded him to the Lakers because they preferred the return over what Brooklyn was offering. Although he initially didn’t choose L.A. , he agreed, thinking he had a chance to win with the Lakers & if not he could still move on in free agency. That’s why he didn’t sign when he first got there.
If you think about it, the way he did it allowed Orlando not to end up empty-handed. They could’ve gotten nothing.Media knew these Details, BUT chose to spin the story as “He flip-flopped, & forced a trade”.
He didn’t demand a trade. He didn’t have to, he was gonna be a free agent the following summer anyway.
Orlando didn’t HAVE to trade him, especially since he agreed to finish his contract.
They traded him for their OWN benefit , not his.
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- redhotpursuit - Oct 29, 2014 at 6:22 PM
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Also remember when a player opts into the the final year of their contract, they cannot be traded without agreeing. Had he refused the trade, he would’ve played that last year in Orlando & became an unrestricted free agent afterwards. He could have signed with another team & left the Magic high & dry, they would’ve got nothing in return. So him accepting the trade was VERY beneficial to Orlando.
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- clownsfan - Oct 29, 2014 at 2:30 PM
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Dwight Howard is a selfish, me-first, overrated diva.
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- ranfan12 - Oct 29, 2014 at 3:09 PM
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Almost thought you were serious for a second lol. He is a diva, but still a beast in the playoffs.
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- ranfan12 - Oct 29, 2014 at 6:27 PM
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Are you talking about basketball? He has to be given the ball or rebound to score. There’s hardly room for selfishness in his style of play when he’s at the rim or setting a pick :/
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- rjthakid - Oct 29, 2014 at 2:37 PM
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Very gracious of her. Perhaps she she should teach Kobe a thing or two.
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- adoombray - Oct 29, 2014 at 3:05 PM
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This is starting to sound like that one friend we all have with an ex girlfriend he still talks about years later. Enough already. Jeannie is trying to put some spotlight on her and not her idiot brother.
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- divan22 - Oct 29, 2014 at 3:09 PM
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Kobe Klan is awfully quiet here! What’s up, guys!?!?
I guess the whole “Dwight was too big a loser and couldn’t handle the LA spotlight” garbage can be put to rest.
He left for less money because Kobe’s an awful teammate who wanted to remain the clear-cut #1 option, instead of sharing the workload equally with the NBA’s best frontcourt. That’s reality.
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- whynotjustadmitit - Oct 29, 2014 at 4:00 PM
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Takes too much pride to admit what they already know. They’d probably pass out from exhaustion after admitting it.
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- ranfan12 - Oct 29, 2014 at 4:22 PM
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Seems more like he just left for the better team(not just that obs). I mean, guy passes up good money, and the chance to be the man once kobe leaves, along with all the money the lakers could use for better free agents and a decent supporting cast.
He just went from one kobe to a less intense kobe other than that.
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- meetingacrosstheriver - Oct 29, 2014 at 3:11 PM
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@bballhistorian – I agree that it was a mistake for Howard to opt in with Orlando. However, there was never anything close to a trade b/w Orl and Bkn. The Nets did not have enough assets that the Magic were interested in.
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- profantasyplyr - Oct 29, 2014 at 3:19 PM
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After the Cowherd interview I have come to the realization Jeanie is not very bright. She may be fortunate, but not bright. Good Luck Lakers..
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- mackcarrington - Oct 29, 2014 at 5:05 PM
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She couldn’t have run Lakers business for years if she wasn’t smart.
What she does, though, is put herself in position to talk about basketball operations when that is not her area of expertise. She is definitely out of her element when talking basketball. But since Jim Buss doesn’t like to talk, and Kupchak only speaks about twice a year, there is no one else to speak on behalf of the Lakers. So they put her out there and the locker room and basketball stuff seems to go over her head.
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- whynotjustadmitit - Oct 29, 2014 at 3:54 PM
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Reporter: “How does it feel knowing people give up millions for the opportunity NOT to play with you and the Laker organization”
Kobe: “They’re idiots”
Reporter: “Come again?”
Kobe: “Whatever….Ill use it as motivation”
Reporter: “Alrighty then, sky is still blue around here, back to the studio”
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- campcouch - Oct 29, 2014 at 6:09 PM
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Didn’t she call him a loser three days ago? The PR staff must’ve gotten to her and explained that the owner calling free agents who didn’t sign this season unworthy was bad juju for future considerations. Now that the reality of your first pick being injured, key trades and free agency signings are garbage, your starting PG is done for the year and Bryant still has a ways to go, she’s being humble. Ha. It’s a long season and the Lakers may turn out to be OK, but they need to realize that Scott/Kobe mojo alone isn’t going to make life easier. Free Swaggy P!
