Hovering in 10th place in the western conference and just 4 games back from the 8th seeded Houston Rockets, Kobe is facing playoff pressure, that is the pressure of not making it. With Pau Gasol going down with a foot injury and the team facing another major piece being out for at least 6 weeks, Kobe is placing the pressure in Dwight Howard to play through his shoulder injury and get back into the game.
Howard, today, responded to Bryant's comments, and he didn't seem all to thrilled.On Wednesday, Kobe said (as per ESPN): “We don't have time for (Howard's shoulder) to heal. We need some urgency… We don't have three years. We've got this year. ..."(Howard) has never been in a position where someone is driving him as hard as I am, as hard as this organization is. It's win a championship or everything is a complete failure. That's just how (the Lakers) do it. And that's foreign to him."
Did Kobe cross the line and push Dwight, in effect, out of the door? Does it even matter to Laker fans if he leaves considering that he has struggled this year health wise but has still performed around his career average 17 points, 13 boards a game? You Tell Me."I want to play," Howard said. "I mean, why wouldn't I want to play? But, at the same time, this is my career, this is my future, this is my life. I can't leave that up to anybody else because nobody else is going to take care of me. So, if people are pissed off that I don't play or if I do play, whatever it may be, so what? This is my career. If I go down, then what? Everybody's life is going to go on. I don't want to have another summer where I'm rehabbing and trying to get healthy again. I want to come back and have another great year. That's what I want to do."
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| The Saga Continues... |
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