“Basketball isn’t Needed at This Moment”: Los Angeles Lakers Star Differs From LeBron James

Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard supported Kyrie Irving on the resumption of the league this season. He, like Irving, felt that the NBA would be a distraction from the ongoing fight against racism. Howard feels no kind of entertainment is currently required.

“I agree with Kyrie,” he said in a statement obtained from Jill Martin of CNN. “Basketball, or entertainment period, isn’t needed at this moment, and will only be a distraction. Sure it might not distract us the players, but we have resources at hand the majority of our community don’t have. And the smallest distraction for them can start a trickle-down effect that may never stop. Especially with the way the climate is now.“

Howard’s team, Lakers, would perhaps be among the first teams that would want the league to restart. Prior to the league’s suspension, the Lakers were on top of the Western Conference with 49 wins. They had the best record in the NBA after Milwaukee Bucks. With LeBron James and Anthony Davis leading the team, they were one of the favorites to win the league. Howard, in his statement, said that although he would like to win a championship, there are bigger issues that people should care about.

“I would love nothing more than to win my very first NBA Championship,” the statement read. “But the unity of My People would be an even bigger Championship, that’s just too beautiful to pass up. What better time than now for us to be focusing on our families?”

No basketball till things resolve, says Los Angeles Lakers’ Howard

Howard believes that the current situation has enabled people to be united with their families more than ever. He wants people should take advantage of this situation and that there shouldn’t be any distractions.

“It’s time Our Families became their own Nations. No Basketball till we get things resolved,” he said in the statement.

Howard’s views might not be the same as all of his teammates. While Avery Bradley was among those against the league’s resumption, the likes of LeBron James was not. He feels the league restarting wouldn’t affect the protests. James did not attend the players’ conference call that Irving led but reports suggest he is in favor of the league’s restart.