Interview with Jeanie Buss. This could go in the dish but there is some significant discussion of Dwight so figured this was a good place. Any notion he isn't serious about winning has been nixed by the owner of the Lakers. Hopefully everyone can let it go now. "The first day I met Dwight Howard, the trade happened and we had a press conference in August. He comes into my office, and he bee-lines for the (championship) trophies. And he goes over, and he touches one of the trophies and looks at me and says, 'These are real.' So I said, 'Why would you not think these are real?' Well, when (the Lakers) played Orlando in the Finals (in 2009), there was a (scheduling) conflict at Staples Center and the Orlando Magic had to come to our practice facility to practice. Well the way my office is set up, the trophies overlook the practice court. I used to always keep the blinds closed, but Phil would come in my office and he'd open them. I'd say, 'Why are you doing that?' I thought maybe he was trying to watch me from the court like he was spying on me. He says, 'I want this open because this is why these guys practice every day. It's the inspiration. It's the signal of what the goal is at the end of this journey.' "So when Dwight came up, and he said, 'This is real,' and I said 'What would make you say that?' He said, 'Well, when we practiced here, I couldn't take my eyes off of them. I kept looking up, and Stan Van Gundy said, 'What are you doing? Why are you looking at those?'' So Dwight said, 'They're (championship) trophies.' And Stan said, 'Those aren't real. They just put those there to mess with you. Those aren't real.' (Howard) needed to know that it was real. To me, from Day One, Dwight's aspiration was to win a championship. And when we got him, that day my phone started ringing and (fans) were like, 'I want to buy tickets to see Steve Nash and Dwight Howard and the Lakers are going to win a championship. I want to buy tickets to one game.' So I said, 'You know what? If you're going to go to one game, wait until January because my understanding is that Dwight's back isn't 100 percent and he might not be playing until later, so I don't want you to come to one game and miss him.' "So I couldn't understand from the first day of training camp how he was practicing. But you know why? Because he was so eager to win that championship. That's all he wanted. He came with the best of intentions. He was great with the media. He was great with all of our charity, all of our events, all of our sponsors, all of our partners. He came one day because he wanted to meet all of the employees. He just wanted to meet the employees. This was a guy who came (to the Lakers), and we let him down. That's how I felt." http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/lakers/2014/10/28/jeanie-buss-qa-lakers-kobe-bryant-phil-jackson/18063213/
i cant name any current star and say: he isn't serious about winning championship, maybe those who won't give up substantial salaries to go to a better team (melo, bosh) but i still wouldn't claim such things, i'd like to think they'r dedicated players tryin best to win the issue with dwight is probably the playful image he projects , intentional or not, kinda of like shaq , always entertaining and less formal, and cuz he isn't goat like shaq people tend to criticize that behavior (smiling in losses all that) hes definitely not a competitor like kobe mj or bird and hasn' matured as a leader like lbj it seems, but again not many ppl r
I don't think people really grasp the severity of a herniated disc and the surgery dwight had. he was having severe nerve issues, I've had back troubles (went Yolo on the squats) and its never come close to what Dwight had and its debilitating. The dude was really risking his livelyhood playing not far removed from surgery. He should'nt have been playing, but he just didn't want to disappoint/wanted the chip that badly. The media will always shape the way they deliver content, but do not mistaken the fact that Dwight enjoys playing a game for a living or the fact he wasn't blessed with god-given footwork like Hakeem that he doesn't want it enough. He wants it more than anybody else on the team, even Beverley.
Only winning will change everything. The story gets rewritten once you win. Sure it's unfair but it's how it is. Dwight puts more into his training and game than Shaq did. Shaq was just a more talented player and didn't feel the need to improve once he was at his unstoppable peak. That same peak could have been extended with dedication to his fitness but he didn't care enough.
I have come to really like and admire Dwight. Not what I expected when he was signed here. Good for Jeanie.
When we lost to the Blazers.. thats when I felt like we let Dwight down the most. Any season we don't win the championship, I'll feel like we let Dwight down. I want him to win just as much as I want the Rockets to win. I hope Dwight is a Rocket for life.
Nice - thanks for closing that awful debate. Dwight is with the Rockets to win biggest! I hope all our moves lead to it. The personnel problem doesn't look good right now, but I hope a sudden trade happens like the one to bring Harden, and sets us up for a period of Finals runs and domination.
I've always liked Jeannie Buss. If she got control instead of Jim, the Lakers would have hired Phil and most likely had success while resigning Dwight.
This shouldn't be surprising from Jeanie Buss. she is pretty candid about this type of stuff. Probably the reason so many want her to take over the franchise.
As a LA native, I want a sticker for this on my car... but I know Imma get my windows smashed, radio, steering wheel, rims, and everything removable jacked....
I don't understand why she doesn't just take over. She was saying on 1st Take the other day that she could anytime she wanted, but prefers to give Jim 3 years to get the team back to where she thinks it should be. She's a nicer person than I am.
