There’s been speculation about when Dwight Howard will make a return back to the Lakers; anything from late November to as late as January. Many critics expect the latter to occur as Howard has been honest with wanting to be 100% healthy before he steps a foot back on the court.
However, there’s a report from Yahoo! Sports that indicates that Dwight Howard is pushing a return of October. 30th.
Five months after back surgery, All-Star center Dwight Howard has targeted his Los Angeles Lakers debut for opening night of the 2012-13 season, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Howard is determined to play against the Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 30 at Staples Center, and his progress in recent weeks has strengthened the possibility, sources said.
If — and this is a big if — Dwight is 100% and plays a full season with the Lakers, it could have an effect on the Thunder and the rest of the Western Conference. Again, that’s a big if.
There’s still scrutiny about Dwight’s health and perhaps this report is evident of Howard wanting to silence his critics by the means of being ready in a month.
Could he be rushing back? Absolutely
Could this be a detriment to the Lakers? Sure
However, no one is going to know for, at least for a few weeks, if he’s a go or not. At the very least, Media Day just became a whole lot more interesting.
[...] some of the regular season with a back injury, but according to a report from Yahoo Sports via the NBA Mistress the chances of him playing opening night are [...]
Effective. I agree.