No one saw this coming: The temporary replacement for Shaquille O’Neal on Tuesday night’s broadcast of “Inside the NBA,” following a wild Game 5 between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, was … Dwight Howard!
You knew with Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley on the TNT set, things had the potential to escalate quickly.
When asked by Barkley why he thought “nobody likes you” and “all the Lakers said all those things,” Howard responded:
“The Lakers? It was you.”
"Why do you think people dont like you? Lakers sayin all those bad things " -Charles
— Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) May 11, 2016
"I think you mean you" -Dwight pic.twitter.com/GAQhURVumi
He added:
“I’ll never forget the day I came in here and you told me I was never going to be good in the NBA.”
"Ill never forget the day I came in here & you told me I was never going to be good in the NBA." - Dwight to Charles pic.twitter.com/SxaFBDF26I
— Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) May 11, 2016
And then regarding reports he was “disinterested” playing with James Harden and the Rockets:
“Sometimes you want to feel a part of what’s going on. If I could bring the ball up the court, shoot 3s, go between the legs and stuff, that’d be great. … There have been times I’ve been upset and taken myself out of games and situations. That’s on me.”
Dwight Howard opens up re: reports he was "disinterested" by playing with James Harden pic.twitter.com/lUM3f7kRkz
— Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) May 11, 2016
On whether he could return to Houston and play alongside Harden again:
“I think we can. I believe we can, but both of us have to put our egos and our pride to the side and say, ‘Hey, we need each other to win.’ ”
Did Howard know he signed up for this intense therapy session? Regardless, he opened up stuff that he may never have unless he did this interview.
And just when you thought it was over…