| Dwight Howard will give it a go tonight, doctor. (Getty Images) |
Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard is officially on record stating he's not a doctor and that Kobe Bryant also doesn't have the "M.D." after his name. This came earlier Thursday when Kobe was pressuring Dwight to come back from his shoulder injury to alleviate the team's lack of a big man after Pau Gasol tore his plantar fascia.
However, the Lakers' center will play through pain and discomfort Thursday night, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
As pressure within and outside the Los Angeles Lakers has grown with the injury to Pau Gasol, All-Star center Dwight Howard plans to return to the lineup against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
ESPN LA's Dave McMenamin all but confirmed the news of Dwight playing when he saw him wearing game socks and sporting a new haircut, possibly for the nationally televised game Thursday night.
We don't know how much Howard will be able to play or how effective he'll be as he battles through the pain of playing with a torn labrum, but he'll at least give it a shot and see if he can help the Lakers topple their injury-riddled rivals. Without Gasol, the Lakers were in danger of starting and playing rookie center Robert Sacre heavy minutes if Howard was absent.
Howard has made it clear that he doesn't want to jeopardize his future by playing through an injury that could cause him to deal with more rehabilitation and training this offseason when he'll be an unrestricted free agent and the top player on the open market.