Dwight Howard injury: Lakers’ star suffers torn labrum, out at least a week

1. On January 7th, we saw a report that Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant almost came to blows in the locker room after a loss to the Sixers. The rumors were denied the next day and Kobe joked about it on Twitter with the picture above and we all laughed it off. False alarm.

3. “I have to do more for this team,” Howard told the media. “There are a lot of responsibilities on my shoulders. I have to step up and take it. It has to be me. It has to start with me. I’m a guy that has to dominate for us to win. We’re not going to win unless I dominate.”

On Wednesday, Los Angeles missed their starting center and was outscored 19-8 after Howard left the game with the injury. The loss to the Suns came in the opener of a seven-game road trip.

The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Lakers and was the first defeat since the now-infamous team meeting.

Medina does pass along that Howard is expected to be reevaluated sometime next week. He also wrote that the 27-year-old big man has been participating in conditioning drills even though he’s still unable to use his upper body for much.

Howard is averaging 17.3 points, 12.4 rebounds and 2.6 blocks through his first 33 games in a Lakers uniform. Rookie Robert Sacre has averaged 7.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in two games starting in Howard’s place after being called up from the D-League.