Transcription
I haven't talked about this in so long. My first time playing for the Lakers, yeah, can we talk about that? Oh my God, that was 201... no, it was 2012. 2012, 2012. Oh my God, it was such a whirlwind. It was such a whirlwind for me. And, um, I just remember coming from Orlando and everything that was going on. Like, I was so, like, beat up 'cause I had this back surgery. Um, all these things happening. The media, "Oh, Dwight's he's flip-flopping, he doesn't want to get traded." This, that, and the third. And I'm like, man, like, this is really, really... I ain't know how to handle this 'cause I'm coming, I'm 18 coming into the league. I know at that time I was a little bit older, but I'm, I don't know what I'm experiencing. Yeah, you know? And I didn't know, I don't know who to run to. I don't know who to really get advice from. I don't know people that are giving me advice or telling me to write advice, you know? So it was so much going on in that year was just crazy. It's just crazy. And I just sitting back after the year, uh, looking back now, I'm like, man, I, I just wish that I didn't allow my emotions to get the best of me 'cause I didn't really understand what was going on.
Well, you were probably getting pulled a lot of different ways. I was, and you really didn't have time to build trust with your Laker teammates or your Laker front office or me or whatever. And I mean, you know, when you came, it was like, "Oh, wow, this is, this is our next, you know, guy. Like, you're going to be here for a long time." And, um, you know, and and you have to understand from my point of view. I mean, my dad, Dr. Buss, was still alive, but he had, you know, he was, his health was failing. And, um, we had just signed the largest broadcast agreement to broadcast our games, and that was the first year that we were going on the air with our own Laker Network.
Yes, yes, yes. Okay. And, you know, so it was like, it was so great to be able to like kick it off with you. And, um, but then, you know, my brother, Jimmy, was running basketball. I wasn't involved in any of the basketball decisions. And at that time, I was in a relationship with Phil Jackson, and, um, he had let Phil go and brought in another coach. And, um, like a couple weeks into that season, he let that coach go. And then it was kind of like, "Well, who are you going to hire?" And I thought he was going to bring Phil back.
Oh my God, me too. And he really wanted to coach you.
Yes. I had, it was crazy 'cause, um, a couple days before, I had talked to Phil on the phone. Yeah. And he was like, he wanted to coach me. And for me, when I heard that, yeah, like even now, I, I'm getting like, chills in my body 'cause I'm like, this is in high school, my coach ran the triangle offense.
No, I didn't know that.
Yes, he ran a triangle offense because of Phil Jackson and because he wanted me to get acclimated into that system. Like playing in a triangle, we had a good guard who actually played for the Lakers too, Javaris Crittenton. Right. He was out of jail now. So thank you, Jesus, that he's at home with his family.
Oh, that's, uh, that's so amazing. Um, but he, he, we ran our triangle. And so when I'm talking to Phil, I'm like, man, I've been wanting this my whole life to be able to one, play with Kobe Bryant, yeah, and get coached by Phil Jackson and run a triangle offense. Like, this is perfect. He always does great with bigs, right? So that was what I was thinking. And so he told me he's going to, um, he said he's going to check with his doctors to see if he'll be able to, uh, do away games 'cause right now, he will only be able to stay at home. Right. So I'm like, "Well, that's fine. Like, as long as you're coaching." And then like two days later, they signed Mike.
I know. And I was like, "Uh oh." Yeah. I was like, I, I don't know if this is going to go well for me. Yeah. And I, it wasn't a selfish thing, like, like personal, but I'm like, I don't know if this, his style is the style that's going to be really good for me.
Well, we had Steve Nash on the team, so it was a, they reunited what they had done in Phoenix by bringing Mike back. But clearly, the choice was to go all in on Steve instead of really, like, what would work best for you. And so I, I understood why you left, but it, it, like, broke my heart because Phil thought he was going to come back. 'Cause he did get cleared physically, and so he let them know, and then they called at midnight to tell them that hired Mike instead. And it just, it, I, you know, it, it was hard for me. And then everything just kind of, yeah.
It broke my heart too. Like, and the whole season did because I just felt like we didn't get a chance, right? And, you know, we had so many injuries, coaching situation. Um, then I feel like I didn't understand how to handle the media at that point with the Kobe dynamic with myself. And it's like, I felt like they were putting us between each other in certain ways. Absolutely. And I didn't know how to deal with that 'cause I'm this young buck who just came from, from my own situation, right? I don't know what to do. I don't even, to be honest, a lot of this stuff is, it's like it happened in a blur. Yeah. So like going back on it, like, hell, I was so heartbroken that I had to leave, but at the same time, I was mad too 'cause I'm like, "I don't want to leave. I do not want to leave this place." But like, I was just like, man, they went and got Mike, they didn't want to get Phil. So I'm like thinking to myself, they must really don't, if I don't know if I'm going to be that next person that, that, that supposed to be here. And I'm like, man, I just, but I would to be LA. I know. And then it didn't happen. It didn't work out.
I do remember the last playoff series, um, against San Antonio. And they kind of made a big deal because I wanted to clarify something that has never been clarified. They showed something. Um, I got kicked out the game. The last game.
Oh, yeah. That guy jumped on your back.
Yeah. I, I got two techs. And I was telling the ref, like, "Yo, they're kicking, they're killing me down here. Like, y'all got to do something." Yeah. And they gave me another tech. And as I'm walking out, um, who was the GM at the time? Um, Mitch. Mitch Kupchak. He came to give me a hug. And I guess with the cameras, they thought I was saying something bad to him. And I gave him a hug. I said, "They got to do something about the refs, man. They're, I'm hurting."
Somebody just got, uh, a quick tech here. He's out of the game. That is his second tech. What a way to end the year if this is the last game for the Lakers. Dwight Howard has been ejected from the game. All the way back. That is all we will see from Dwight in this crazy year.
And it wasn't nothing against him or the team. I was just so frustrated because they were letting them beat the crap out of me that game, and it was nothing I could do about it. They going after your back. Yeah. And I got, and I just had back surgery. And so I never got that clarified. I don't want people to think that I was so mad that I'm, I'm trying to get kicked out the game 'cause I didn't want to play. Like, I put my whole body on the line for the Lakers that year, knowing that first of all, I wasn't even supposed to play this season. I had just got back from the back surgery. I tore my labrum that year, and I still played 'cause I was just like, man, I'm playing for the Lakers.
And I remember having a conversation with your dad when, uh, before he passed, um, 'cause, uh, he wanted to meet with me. Yeah. He did. And we had a conversation. I remember him telling me, he was like, "Dwight, you're the person I want. I've been wanting on this team for so long." That is true. And I was like, "Are you for real?" He was like, "Yes, man, you have it. You have it in you." Yeah. And I was just so, I was just like, "This is crazy." Like, he's telling me this, and then we have the season that we have, and then I leave. And it, it, it's been bothering me so much since 'cause I'm like, "Why did I leave? What was I thinking?" I don't, like, all this stuff. Then, then Kobe got hurt. That's when he tore his Achilles against, in that, in, in going into that playoffs. And so it, you know, it, I guess things just happened that way. Like, it, we wouldn't have had a team that you could have won on. And so, yeah, it was so much.
But then it's just like, after that, oh my God, I couldn't go nowhere. The Laker Nation was on my ass everywhere I went. Oh my God. I was like, "Fans, this had nothing to do with you guys." Please. I'm talking about every city I played in, it was like when, um, what's his name, who played, who dated Kim Kardashian? Uh, oh, Chris Humphries. Chris Humphries. After he dated her, he got booed every time he went to another city and touched the basketball. That's what it was like for me. Like, every place I went, "Hey, you left the Lakers." I'm like, "Oh, man."
And so then I remember going back to the Lakers. Yeah. And this time it was like, it was like, like it was crazy. I wasn't like in my prime or anything like that. And I had just came off back surgery again. So I'm just coming off back surgery. I remember it. I remember the whole summer. I was playing for Washington. Um, I had to have back surgery. And it was crazy 'cause people, I was playing with this pain in my back. There's nothing. It was so bad. I couldn't sit on the bench. I had to stand up the whole game unless I laid down. Um, I couldn't sit down on the plane. Uh, they had to give me a, a air mattress bed that they made so I can lay down on the plane. I had to stand up all the bus rides to the hotel and to the airplane, all that stuff. And then on game days, one of the trainers had to put my shoes on and tie them for me 'cause I couldn't reach down and tie them. And I'm still out there playing.
And so, was it the same injury?
Same injury. Lower disc. It was L4, L5. Didn't it? It was, yeah, L4, L5. And then the next one was L5, S1. Okay. So when I had, when I went to the Lakers, both times, I got this much taken out of my back, both times before the season. And so I remember being in Washington. I told him, I got to have surgery 'cause I can't bear this pain no more. Um, I have this surgery. Was successful. Start trying to do my rehab, but they wanted me to come back fast. And I'm like, "No, I'm gonna hurt myself." Right? So I, I asked him, I said, "Can you just give me the summer? I'm gonna come back in the best shape of my life. I'm gonna lose 30 pounds in 30 days, and we're gonna win the championship. I promise you." They cut me. Well, actually, they didn't cut me. They traded me to Memphis. I called Memphis and I asked him, "Can I come down and meet the players and like do like a, a mini camp just to get the team together?" The owner says, "We don't have room for you on the roster." And so I'm like, "Damn, okay." So I say, "All right, I'm about to go. I'm about to go get to it." So I start training. I lose 30 pounds in 30 days. Um, I think my agent at the time called Rob or something. They want, y'all wanted me to come out to LA. And I came out to LA solo. Nobody came with me. Got to the facility, worked out in front of Rob, and that was history. It was like they signed me. Y'all signed me right away. And then the season was just like, it was just like perfect. I knew we was gonna win from the time that I signed to to we won. I, it was no doubt in my mind that we was gonna win 'cause every game, it's like, we knew it. It was like, nobody can beat us. Nobody can beat us.
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