If Dwight Howard thought it was going to be all love in Los Angeles, Hall of Famer Lakers forward James Worthy let him know that’s not necessarily the case.
Worthy, who is one of the beloved Laker legends, did not hold back in his issues with the team’s new starting center.
“I wasn’t a fan of Dwight Howard,” Worthy said during a conference call to announce his new role as main studio analyst for Lakers games on Time Warner Cable SportsNet. Worthy said all the back-and-forth with Howard with the Magic last year — the whining and complaining and requesting coach Stan Van Gundy be fired — did not settle well with him.
Simply, Worthy is “old school,” meaning nothing should distract you from playing the game. He did not like that with Howard, “there was too much conversation.”
“Who said this, I don’t like this coach. To me, that’s nonsense,” Worthy said. “Your job is to come in and play and deal with the situation that’s there.”
That’s the way Worthy did it. He played and played hard, no matter the circumstances. Old school.
Worthy also was deeply disappointed and downright angry that Howard was hesitant about joining the Lakers, one of the leagues’ storied franchises. “I was a little bit taken back (by that),” Worthy said. “I think I heard him say. . . if the Lakers drafted him, he wouldn’t take it. I knew that was gibberish.”
Worthy, however, made it clear that now that Howard is on the Lakers, he welcomes him to the team. He just thinks that the superstar with a larger-than-life personality needs a minor attitude adjustment. In L.A., stars abound, and Howard will be the biggest one in physical size, but not in prominence. Getting used to that might be an issue for him.
“This is not Orlando,” Worthy said.
