Next week, the Lakers will travel to Orlando to play their first road game against the Magic since acquiring Dwight Howard in a deal last summer. And, it should be a hell of homecoming for Howard. He'll obviously get booed because of the way that he left Orlando. But, recently, he did an interview and gave the Orlando fans—and some of the Orlando players—even more of a reason to hate him.
During the interview that he did with CBS Los Angeles, Howard talked about how people shouldn't use his happy-go-lucky approach to the game of basketball against him. Specifically, he pointed out how he was able to use that attitude to lead the Magic over the course of the last few years—despite the team's obvious shortcomings.
"I understand coming here to L.A., Kobe's here and, for 17 years, Laker fans have seen Kobe, they just see Kobe as somebody who's serious," he said. "It seems like he doesn't fool around, joke around, whatever it may be. But, that's his personality, and just because I don't necessarily make a [growling sound] or do all that during games or on the bench, that doesn't mean I don't care about succeeding or wanting to win…I always tell people, 'Hey, my team in Orlando was a team full of people who nobody wanted, and I was the leader and I led that team with a smile on my face.'"
Yikes. A "team full of people who nobody wanted," Dwight? That seems harsh. And, that also seems like grounds for you to get booed every single time you touch the ball when you're in Orlando next week. It'll be interesting to see how much you're smiling then.
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[via SLAM]
