Los Angeles Lakers: Players with the most to prove in 2019
By Jason Reed
Dwight Howard
It was not a matter of if but a matter of when Dwight Howard was going to appear in this article. He was absolutely the first person you thought of when you read the title of the article and we decided to save the most obvious player for last.
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Howard has a lot to prove not only to the fans but to his teammates as well this season. Howard was brought in on a non-guaranteed deal under the precedent that if he does not show legitimate change or care that the Lakers can simply release him.
The Lakers want what Howard can do on the court without all of the off the court nonsense. They want someone who can log minutes at the center position without causing any other distractions off the court.
In Howard’s eyes, it should be more complex than that. The Lakers are offering him what feels like his 10th second chance in the league. However, what is different about this second chance is that he is actually playing on a true title-contender.
He has not played on a contender since the Houston Rockets and even then they were still a few years away from being legitimate title contenders.
It is hard to get up and stay motivated when you have a stretch of playing only for mediocre teams, but that is what Howard gets for his off-court antics. The Lakers are the first team since the Rockets to actually turn to Howard to play a role in contending, not just to play the role of a salary figure in a trade.
Next. Ranking each Laker role player by importance. dark
Howard can really extend his career and change his entire legacy with a good, productive and distraction-free season in 2019. Or, he could just continue to dig his own NBA grave if he does more of the same from the rest of his career.