The other amiable big man who went from Orlando to Los Angeles three months ago was already gone, down the tunnel and into the locker room, without so much as a handshake. Dwight Howard fled the court Sunday night, upstaged by the organization he paralyzed and the team he abandoned, in a game that will sting far more than the other eight the Lakers have already lost. The final score, 113-103, might as well hang on the Magic marquee all season.
In the age of the super team, the awkward reunion that follows the nasty break-up has become an annual tradition. It is a date to circle on the schedule, when the superstar who jilted a franchise is forced to confront those he left behind. Like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Chris Bosh, Howard had many reasons to move to a mega market, but in public he only acknowledged one. He said his new club gave him a chance to win a title, implying that his old one did not, an indictment of players who used to be pals. Howard was probably correct, of course, but he still had to face them.
Most stars admit they take no pleasure in facing their former teams, and Saturday, Howard sounded contrite about the handling of his Orlando exit. “There are some things I could’ve done better,” he told reporters. But he appeared as carefree as ever in the locker room at Staples Center before Sunday’s game, impersonating Kobe Bryant and re-enacting in slow motion the 3-pointer he made Friday. “You know how I do my 3-point clinic before practice?” Howard hollered at Steve Nash. Ducking into the lunch room, Nash shot back: “I forgot about that.” Howard guffawed.