Is Dwight Howard washed up from his bad back, or will he get better?

[Sharmer]

Anyway who thinks he is washed up, knows little about comebacks.

[TAZORAC]

Isn't he averaging 18/12? His dropoff is clearly overstated by many.

The guy has been out for a year and needs time to get back to form. And he's still settling into a new city, given new teammates and 2 new coaches and systems. Give him some time, and he can get back to his best. Not that he is very far off from it statistically anyway

His stats are irrelevant, watch the game. He can't even bend over to pick up the ball. Howard use to influence games. He can't jump or run that well anymore. Could be something to do with the weight gain as well.

[STATUTORY]

dwight's completely shot as a player. he's still getting by on reputation and the refs gifting him blocks for goaltends but he has no impact on game these days

[stevieming]

Larry Johnson who was an explosive dunker after back surgery could barely dunk!

Admittedly medical skill has probably improved and Dwight is taller with longer arms, so he should be able to still dunk, but he ain't never going to get back that freaky athleticism.

[tomtucker]

had he not lifted all those weights......(just to make his muscles huge for no reason)..........then his back would not be injured, right ?

[Rubio2Gasol]

Having surgery doesn't make you lose your defensive intelligence. And I do think he was an intelligent defender at one point in time.

The fact that D'Antoni holds no one accountable makes it difficult for him but to me a great defensive leader should be able to do that and direct and orgainize defenses himself.

[TheBigVeto]

As soon as Kobe is traded, he'll play better.

[RoseCity07]

How come when they win it's Kobe leading them down the road to another title? When they lose it's Dwight's fault. Which is it? Is Kobe the man or not?

He gets credit as being the man whenever the win the championship. Yet doesn't anyone notice that they don't win when Gasol sucks? They didn't win when Shaq declined. Now that Dwight is hurting they look even worse.

[Nick Young]

He is done.

He doesnt have the mentality to get through this and come out a better player.

He is mentally weak and probably accepts his fate.

Mitch better not offer this scrub a max contract.

[TonyD]

Conspiracy theory:

Last season Dwight had been having back problems, but nothing so significant that surgery was completely necessary. Despite this, in order to distance himself from team drama and media pressure, Dwight opted to have the surgery as he had been assured that he would have a full recovery.

At first his plan seemed to have worked brilliantly, he was able to take time away from the team and was eventually traded to a contender in a big market and with plentiful opportunities off the court. Dwight was quite pleased with himself. However, one aspect of his master plan is not panning out. Dwight has found that recovery is not going as well as he had hoped and his physical abilities are not what they once were pre-surgery. He ponders if he has made an irreversible, life-altering mistake...

[Nick Young]

How come when they win it's Kobe leading them down the road to another title? When they lose it's Dwight's fault. Which is it? Is Kobe the man or not?

He gets credit as being the man whenever the win the championship. Yet doesn't anyone notice that they don't win when Gasol sucks? They didn't win when Shaq declined. Now that Dwight is hurting they look even worse.

Dont you read ISH? There are always tons of threads blaming Kobe for the Lakers record and losses. There was one thread blaming Kobe for scoring 30 ppg on 50% scoring saying it was bad for the team.

[francesco totti]

him and phil jackson, next year in brooklyn

[Nick Young]

even this midget Faried made Dwight Howard his bitch, he just isn't that good

[9erempiree]

Conspiracy theory:

Last season Dwight had been having back problems, but nothing so significant that surgery was completely necessary. Despite this, in order to distance himself from team drama and media pressure, Dwight opted to have the surgery as he had been assured that he would have a full recovery.

At first his plan seemed to have worked brilliantly, he was able to take time away from the team and was eventually traded to a contender in a big market and with plentiful opportunities off the court. Dwight was quite pleased with himself. However, one aspect of his master plan is not panning out. Dwight has found that recovery is not going as well as he had hoped and his physical abilities are not what they once were pre-surgery. He ponders if he has made an irreversible, life-altering mistake...

interesting but I highly doubt that.

[ShaqAttack3234]

It is becoming increasingly likely that he'll never be the same player he was, but not washed up. I am disappointed because Dwight was showing so much potential, the Dwight Howard of 2011 truly looked to be the dominant big man of this younger generation at just 25 years old. I will give him until the all-star break to show some improvement since he wasn't expected back before January.