Jim Buss Says Dwight Howard Was Never A Laker

Dwight Howard is more than a month removed from choosing the Houston Rockets over the Lakers and his decision is still making headlines. It will probably stay that way through next season or until Howard gets bored and becomes indecisive about another venture, whichever comes first.

The latest has Lakers owner Jim Buss taking not-so-subtle jabs at the behemoth.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Buss told Ric Bucher that Howard was never really a member of the Purple and Gold family.

“He was never really a Laker,” Jim said. “He was just passing through.”

Shots fired. Kinda sorta.

To Lakers fans and those who know how exclusive and prominent the Laker family is, those words are interpreted as an insult. The kind of slam that cuts to the core. But for Howard, this is a notion he would (probably) agree with.

Superman was never honored the way Lakers normally are, never accepted into their selective club. And why? For any number of reasons really.

Potential rifts in the locker room could have contributed to him feeling out place. Perhaps people began to feel like he was attempting to stake his flag in Kobe Bryant’s territory. Maybe Los Angeles as a city never really liked him or his inconsistent effort on the offensive end.

Or maybe, just maybe, it was because of the circumstances under which he arrived.

At the time, we knew he didn’t want to stay with the Orlando Magic. But it was also clear the Lakers weren’t his first option. His heart, at that moment, lied with Deron Williams and the Brooklyn Nets. They were the team he wanted to play for.

No matter though, the Lakers were the Lakers. They can convince anyone to stay, to love them. It’s not difficult. Yet there’s another problem.

The Lakers aren’t accustomed to competing for affections. They get what they want because what they want usually loves them. It wasn’t like that with Howard, and it was blatantly obvious. From the billboards the team put up to the general sense of uncertainty they carried leading into the offseason, the marriage just never felt right. Which is something Jeanie Buss regrets.

“It’s disappointing that Dwight isn’t here,” she said. “I feel like we failed him [Dr. Buss].”

Bucher writes that those close to Howard told him the big man could have been “persuaded” to stay put. So yes, Jeanie is correct in that regard. Los Angeles failed to keep a player who, apparently, could have been kept.

Still, it’s not solely on the Lakers organization. They could have pulled out more stops for Superman, hung more billboards and made the locker room a more Dwight-centric environment. But Howard could have also embraced the Lakers’ reputation, welcomed the opportunity to play alongside Kobe. Even if he didn’t like him, he could have grinned his way through the next few seasons, knowing in a couples years time, the empire would all be is.

Alas, he didn’t. Now the Lakers and Howard have had to move on, him to Houston and a bearded sidekick in James Harden, and they to the summer of 2014, where a platter of free-agent superstars awaits.