There are so few times in our individual lives where we get the opportunity to define or redefine ourselves for many years to come, or possibly for eternity. As former Lakers coach Pat Riley once told his team when they were playing the Celtics in the 1985 NBA Finals, “There comes a time when you must plant your feet, make a stand and kick some butt.”
That time is now for Dwight Howard.
We all remember how his first stint with the team went in 2012-13. It started with some optimism that Howard could become the next in a sterling lineage of great Lakers big men.