How’s this for some breaking news?
Apparently, the day Lakers fans have been waiting for is getting closer. According to Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports, Dwight Howard could be taking the floor for the Lakers in an actual game really soon:
Barring any complications with Howard’s back over the next couple days, the Lakers are optimistic the All-Star center will make their first appearance for them on Sunday. “He is making progress,” one Lakers source told Yahoo! Sports. “There is a good chance he can play Sunday.”
Howard has been getting closer and closer in recent weeks. He started camp doing only non-contact drills, escalated to contact work in non-scrimmage settings, and then was finally cleared for all activity — except playing in actual games — shortly after. In recent days, he’s spoken of needing to get his conditioning up so that he could be prepared for real game situations.
Well, it seems that day is almost here. Soon enough we’ll see those Nash/Howard pick and rolls, high-low actions between Howard and Gasol, and Howard working with Kobe in two man games on and off the ball to help each other get easy looks. We’ll see him be a presence on defense, work the glass. and help set that physical tone that’s been missing so far this preseason.
Of course there will be some rust in his game and he may not be the exact player we expect (that 20/20 game may have to wait), but at least he’ll be back on the floor soon. Hopefully, as the report states, that will be this Sunday.
Jonny says
Dwight needs to have a mediocre, easy, 10 minute, first quarter on Sunday.
That way the first game jitters will be gone, and he (plus the media and us fans) will have a fairly low reference point from which progress can be more easily inferred.
He doesn’t even need to do a reverse Ramon Sessions, a solid, rusty performance is what this fan is looking forward to.
Jonny says
By 10 minutes, I meant for the entire game (ie only featuring in the first quarter)
And by solid, I meant unspectacular.
sT says
Maybe it is me, but I just feel like he is comming back to soon from the back surgery. I mean, he was not supposed to play until January, that was the initial prognosis for him to see action with the Lakers this season. Certainly any pre-season games which are apparently meaningless anyway, would be way earlier than expected. But, the Lakers training staff must know what they are doing, right?
sT says
BTW, what happened to the ‘edit’ feature here at the FB&G site?
dice8up says
yay… I’m loving this… The Heat maybe off to a running start this preseason… but the Boston Celtics are scary good…
Lakers!!
matt says
sT, the normal recovery time for the type of surgery he had (in April I think?) is about four months on average. If anything, it seems that he’s been quite cautious. This isn’t to criticize him in any way – I def agree that we don’t want any problems cropping up from rushing things. I think a lot of initial reports were intentionally coy to avoid the LA media machine going wild if he missed an arbitrarily set timeline for return etc.
Kareem says
matt,
Phil used to do that all the time. Throw out bs recovery timelines for reporters to chew on.
Tra says
Excellent news on the prognosis of DH-12 and tho’ I’m far from a doctor, I believe the recovery period for the injury in which he sustained is between 4-5 months. So, being that the surgery was performed in April, in actuality, he’s definitely been overly cautious (as matt has stated). Now what I would like to hear is an update on J-Hill’s back injury. I know he tweeted that the injury wasn’t too serious, but 1 thing you Know in regards to back issues is that you really don’t Know.
Aaron says
Well.. We will find out soon if Dwight is Dwight. I’m equal parts nervous and excited.
Tra,
Hill returned to practice and said he would be playing on oppening night. They caught it early so to avoid surgery. He will be fine.
Robert says
This is more great news. The fact that he may play Sunday is way ahead of schedule. Many were questioning “how many games at the beginning of the season he would miss, and making statements like – how many games will we drop before he joins the team on the floor?” The fact that he is ahead of schedule is also good news towards him being 100% soon. There are no guarantees on anything, but this is all that we could possibly hope for. Other than for PJ to make a triumphant return to the head coaching role : )
Chearn says
While I’m overly excited about seeing D-Ho on the floor by Sunday, I wouldn’t mind if he did not return until about the first home game that occurs around the 5-6 game mark.
The Lakers will have the remainder of the season to develop chemistry. Give Sacre those 5-6 games to establish himself in the NBA so that by the time D-Ho returns he can contribute off the bench devoid of the referees not knowing his name or game. Game experience will go a long way in preparing Sacre to contribute during a run in the playoffs.
In the past D-Ho had a tendency to get into foul trouble, however I believe this will abate while playing with the Lakers. At any rate, the Lakers need to be prepared just in case by getting this guy valuable NBA experience from the onset.
Dwight Howard should begin playing for the Lakers during a regular season home game it will create a frenzy for the fans and give him a homecoming to remember.
Let’s go Lakers!