Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sure is singing a different tune about Dwight Howard after the now Houston Rockets center spurned the Lakers this offseason during free agency.
In August, Abdul-Jabbar took to his Facebook page and posted the following about Howard:
"Dwight Howard is a perfect example of the fact that 'potential has a shelf life.' Laker fans should be patient and allow Mitch (Kupchak) and company to prepare themselves to do some serious work in the free agent market."
On Thursday, Abdul-Jabbar appeared on ESPN's "First Take" and did not back off of his criticism of Howard when he was asked to clarify his post.
"Dwight is an extraordinary athlete and he has incredible athletic ability, but basketball is a game where the most important muscle you use on the court is the one between your ears," Abdul-Jabbar said. "Dwight's basketball I.Q. is not up to speed for him to be a dominant player. He has problems at both ends of the court and he doesn't have a 'go to' move."
Ouch.
Abdul-Jabbar then talked about preparing Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum for Howard when the Lakers played the Orlando Magic in 2009 in the NBA Finals, saying that if you take away certain things from Howard, he doesn't have an answer for it.
"He needs to develop some skills at both ends of the court that would enable him to consistently contribute to a winning effort," Abdul-Jabbar said. "He hasn't done that."
"He needs to get to the point where he will devote some time to developing those skills or he's always going to be on the verge of being of greatness, but he won't get to step across the line. But, that's on him."
