Dwight Howard implies Lakers should give him another chance after Game 1 loss to Nuggets: ‘I’m still in shape’

The Los Angeles Lakers have lost nine straight games to the Denver Nuggets, including Game 1 of their first-round matchup in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

Dwight Howard seemingly thinks he may be able to help remedy Los Angeles’ woes against Denver. He appears to be campaigning for his last NBA employer to sign him again, even reminding the social media world that he is a year younger than Lakers star LeBron James.

Unfortunately, even if the Purple and Gold wanted to sign the three-time Defensive Player of the Year right now, the team wouldn’t be able to field him in the playoffs. L.A. would have had to have added him before the postseason.

At the moment, he has a contract with the Mets de Guaynabo of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional, a professional men’s basketball league in Puerto Rico. Considering that he also played for a couple of other international teams before his current stint, Howard should indeed be in shape.

It’s unclear, though, if he is still capable of containing Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, who has been a thorn in the Lakers’ side in recent years, including when the teams met in the 2023 Western Conference Finals. That series also saw Howard proclaim that only he could stop the two-time MVP.

After an X (formerly Twitter) user said that Jokic would cook him these days, the eight-time All-Star disagreed.

It has been years since “Superman” faced off versus the “Joker” in the postseason — the 2020 Western Conference Finals, to be exact. That series saw Howard play 20.2 minutes per game and help limit Jokic’s production to 21.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists per contest.

Since then, the Serbian big man has put up 25.3 points, 12.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists per match against Los Angeles in the regular season. In addition, Denver’s sweep of the Lakers in the 2023 Western Conference Finals saw him average 27.8 points, 14.5 rebounds and 11.8 assists per game.

Evidently, the Lakers have a lot on their plate against Jokic and the rest of the Nuggets in the current series.

Anthony Davis appeared confident prior to the start of the series, sending a warning that they’re not ducking the smoke versus Denver. Hopefully, the Lakers can back their talk up with impressive performances for the remainder of the first round.