Report: Howard to Leave LA

ESPN is reporting that it's a strong possibility Dwight Howard won't be back in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform next year.

For weeks, it's been looking like Howard would be going elsewhere to play his 2013 / 2014 season. He and Chris Paul have been conversing about joining forces somewhere and playing together. Sound familiar?

Howard's reasoning is that he doesn't like Lakers head coach Mike D'Antoni. Again I ask, does this sound familiar?

Howard tried to pull this stunt in Orlando last year with Stan Van Gundy. It worked, but Howard still ended up in LA. Now, he is trying to get D'Antoni fired. Most Laker fans wouldn't object to this, but that doesn't guarantee that he will stay.

It also doesn't mean that the Lakers aren't doing everything in their power to persuade him to stay, including buying billboards. (Hockey fans, we know. We know. This is the dysfunctional side of hoops, and it should be tolerated as much as your sport tolerates it. Like never!)

As ESPN anchor Scott Van Pelt put it "These are the Lakers." As bad as Howard's play was last year along with his attitude, why would they beg him to stay?

They are the Lakers, and they can get almost anybody they want to come play for them. It's quite obvious Howard doesn't want to be the leader of this team when Kobe Bryant retires and is content to play the second fiddle. Even though he's a prima donna second fiddle. Or does the term drama queen seem more fitting?

Whatever, this doesn't sound like a guy who wants to be in a Lakers uniform. It sounds like a guy who'd rather be a so-called superstar than an NBA Champion, and that doesn't fit the Lakers organization.

Neither does Dwight Howard.