Why Dwight Howard Was Never Really a Flight Risk for Lakers

Though Los Angeles turned out to not be his most preferred destination—the Lakers have the Brooklyn Nets to thank for that—it was never a market he was going to leave, never a team he was going to abandon. And that would have held true even without Tinseltown’s newest big man having had a sit-down with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Yes, Howard and Abdul-Jabbar, one of the Lakers—and NBA’s—all-time greats, had a heart-to-heart. And you know what, Howard took to Twitter afterward to express his gratitude, and perhaps shed some light on his future with the Los Angeles organization.

Just set down with @kaj33. Man God is so good. Was in tears. What a blessing. This is like a dream come true. Go Lakers.

Touching, right? But it doesn’t stop there. Abdul-Jabbar jumped on the social media bandwagon as well, providing even more clarity than Howard himself did.

#DwightHoward Great meeting you today – Laker Nation is in great hands for years to come. Now lets WIN a championship

Now, I’m not going to sit here and pretend that Howard conversing with Abdul-Jabbar isn’t significant, because it is. Not only did the latter know how to navigate the Staples Center, but he knows what it takes to succeed in Los Angeles. Any information, any insight and any advice he was able to offer Howard would go a long way toward the big man making the most out of his stay in Hollywood.

But we’re kidding ourselves if we didn’t think his stay was going to last beyond this season, even if the conversation with Abdul-Jabbar never took place.

Not only can the Lakers offer Howard tens of millions of dollars more than any other team, but even he couldn’t believe his image would recover if he left yet another organization high and dry. All along, Howard wanted to play in one of the NBA’s biggest markets, on one of the brightest stages. So, 1) why would he want to leave Los Angeles, a market and stage that emulates everything he’s supposedly interested in and 2) how could he justify it if he did?

He couldn’t. Sure, he could take another page out of Ray Allen’s book and place a “thank you” ad in the Los Angeles Times, but it wouldn’t do much, if anything.

No, Howard didn’t force his way to the Lakers the way he tried to situate himself with the Nets, but it doesn’t matter. The Lakers stand for everything he apparently believes in. Even in the darkest of Los Angeles hours, Mitch Kupchak and company have proven they’ll do whatever it takes to remain relevant, no matter how unfavorable the odds or financial limitations are (see the Howard trade itself).

And why wouldn’t you want to board that train? Or better yet, what would it take for you to get on it, only to jump off?

Howard’s meeting with Abdul-Jabbar is, in fact, encouraging. It shows he is open to taking advice and actively doing everything in his power to make the most out of his tenure with the Lakers. But let’s not pretend such a relationship will wind up being the difference between him staying and leaving.

Because Howard was never leaving. The man he allowed himself to become in Orlando made sure of that.