Jeanie Buss Disses Mike D’Antoni Over Dwight Howard Fiasco

Dwight Howard joined the Los Angeles Lakers early last decade and people thought it would turn the squad into a super team that could rival the likes of the Miami Heat. Instead, the Howard experiment turned out to be a bit of a disaster and he left the team after just a short time. Now, Howard is back on the Lakers and is seeing a bit of a resurgence. He’s been a huge contributor on a Lakers team that is first in the Western Conference and is expected to make a huge push for a championship.

During a recent conference, Lakers part-owner Jeanie Buss spoke about Howard’s first stint in Los Angeles and was quite adamant that it was a coaching issue that kept him from reaching his full potential. For those who forgot, Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni was leading the team at the time.

“We hired a coach that didn’t respect his game and wasn’t going to put him in a position to succeed,” Buss said. Clearly, she wasn’t happy with D’Antonio’s tenure although we can’t blame her. The D’Antonio Lakers aren’t looked upon fondly by Lakers fans and supporters would probably rather forget that era.

Regardless, you can’t help but feel happy for Howard as he excels with the Lakers in his second stint in LA.