Howard Will Miss Beginning of Season for Lakers

[Kane3387]

This season Bynum might actually be the better option.

Back injuries like Howards are tricky tricky things. Might take him a while to get back to 100% if he can at all.

The Los Angeles Lakers will tip off their 2012-13 campaign against the Dallas Mavericks, who very desperately wanted to trade for Dwight Howard. However, it appears that the Mavs won't have to witness Howard's game up close Oct. 30, because multiple sources have told ESPN that Howard will not be ready for the start of the regular season. He will still be rehabbing his surgically repaired back.

Obviously, the Lakers aren't too concerned about his long-term status or they wouldn't have pulled the trigger on Friday's trade. His short-term status, on the other hand, is up in the air.

We'll have to wait to see exactly what sort of timetable the Lakers' training staff place on their new center before we can speculate on what sort of statistics he can pile up in his new digs. He may well be worked into the mix slowly with limited minutes once he's cleared for game action. Playing alongside scorers like Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, combined with the status of his back, will make it difficult to predict exactly what we can expect from Howard as a scorer this season. However, so long as he gets back to 100 percent, we do know that he'll dominate the glass and block a ton of shots.

Above is from ESPN Insider.

Howard will have to wait to make his debut with the Lakers since he is expected to miss the start of the regular season as he continues to recover from back surgery, multiple sources told ESPN.

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/8256377/dwight-howard-traded-los-angeles-lakers

[Who]

The Lakers offense is going to be beautiful while Dwight Howard is out.

Steve Nash (PG) and Pau Gasol (C) together will be a sight to see. Kobe on the wings.

[LarBrd33]

Let's hope for a career-ending setback to his recovery.

[Dybdal]

Let's hope for a career-ending setback to his recovery.

Really? you would actualy "hope" that harm comes to another human being. And here i thought we were better than that.

[Kane3387]

Let's hope for a career-ending setback to his recovery.

Really? you would actualy "hope" that harm comes to another human being. And here i thought we were better than that.

Lol man. I don't want to see another Laker dynasty ever. 17-16 is cool with me for now.

[Kane3387]

The Lakers offense is going to be beautiful while Dwight Howard is out.

Steve Nash (PG) and Pau Gasol (C) together will be a sight to see. Kobe on the wings.

I guess Jamison starts at PF.

[j804]

Let's hope for a career-ending setback to his recovery.

wow rofl

[apc]

Let's hope for a career-ending setback to his recovery.

Just a setback, few years delay in recovery until Kobe retires.

[missyP]

Let's hope for a career-ending setback to his recovery.

Really? you would actualy "hope" that harm comes to another human being. And here i thought we were better than that.

Ditto. Overall sports fanhood and class should transcend all this ill will against competition. Bad health can occur to anyone, and it's nothing to wish anybody. geez!!

[nickagneta]

I had the same surgery Howard did, and I know I am not a pro athlete, but once the back is so bad you have to have surgery, it is tremendously difficult to get it back to where it was pre-surgery and keep it that way. Howard is a freak of nature, but with the stress he is going to be putting on that back from jumping, landing, lifting weights and running, a full 100% recovery with no lingering problems is not a given thing.

I had my surgery 10 years ago and have since herniated the same disc again and another.

[Ogaju]

It depends. What kind of surgery did he have. If it was a fusion then he risks injuring the levela above and below the fusion. There is a lot of pounding on the basketball that does not lend itself well to injured backs and knees. So they traded one injury prone Bynum for one injury recovering Howard.

[Neurotic Guy]

I had the same surgery Howard did, and I know I am not a pro athlete, but once the back is so bad you have to have surgery, it is tremendously difficult to get it back to where it was pre-surgery and keep it that way. Howard is a freak of nature, but with the stress he is going to be putting on that back from jumping, landing, lifting weights and running, a full 100% recovery with no lingering problems is not a given thing.

I had my surgery 10 years ago and have since herniated the same disc again and another.

You're making the moral dilemma all the more difficult. Hard to read your post without a twinge of hope that Howard isn't 100%.  I definitely don't want him in pain or debilitated or to have any quality of life impact, but I can't claim to be void of the thought that I don't want him to be Superman.
 
As George Costanza would say: Is that wrong?

[LarBrd33]

Let's hope for a career-ending setback to his recovery.

Really? you would actualy "hope" that harm comes to another human being. And here i thought we were better than that.

Not harm... just forced retirement due to chronic back problems.  He's got boatloads of money... he'll be fine. I'd just prefer he never win 5 championships with the Lakers.  He was already one of the least likeable stars in the league... that was before he fulfilled his destiny by being a Hollywood punk.

[Redz]

I had the same surgery Howard did, and I know I am not a pro athlete, but once the back is so bad you have to have surgery, it is tremendously difficult to get it back to where it was pre-surgery and keep it that way. Howard is a freak of nature, but with the stress he is going to be putting on that back from jumping, landing, lifting weights and running, a full 100% recovery with no lingering problems is not a given thing.

I had my surgery 10 years ago and have since herniated the same disc again and another.

You're making the moral dilemma all the more difficult. Hard to read your post without a twinge of hope that Howard isn't 100%.  I definitely don't want him in pain or debilitated or to have any quality of life impact, but I can't claim to be void of the thought that I don't want him to be Superman.
 
As George Costanza would say: Is that wrong?

Honestly, who in their "Big 4" do you trust to make it through a season healthy?  The Lakers won't have the luxury of babying their stars in the regular season.  They're all going to have to play big minutes if they want to win games (or maybe be so good that they blow teams out and rest their guys, but I don't really see them clicking that well immediately).  PP & KG are going to be playing in the 25-30 minute range I'd guess.  Lakers stars will be pressed for 35-40.  I just don't think the Lakers are going to be able lean that heavily on them without injuries and general wear & tear.

We got a bunch...They don't. 

[Kane3387]

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/08/13/just-how-healthy-is-dwight-howard/?ls=iref:nbahpt1

There is no guarantee that he returns to form this coming season.

The Lakers’ understanding of Howard’s lumbar microdiscectomy (surgical removal of herniated disc fragments in the lower back) is that standard recovery time is six or seven months. Howard had surgery April 20, which his doctor deemed went without complication, so six months off takes him to Oct. 20.

However, Howard told ESPN’s Chris Broussard just before the surgery: “The doctor said it’s a one-inch incision. He said I can start rehab right away and be back to full contact in four months. So I’m not really concerned. If anything, I’ll come back stronger.”

Four months is just about now, so that’s not happening.