When Dwight first came to Los Angeles, fans were hopefully optimistic that he could work with former Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to gain some post moves. When Dwight tweeted a picture of the two together, fans were enamored with the idea. Well, according to the legend himself, that meeting was their last contact.
Abdul-Jabbar first began by sharing his thoughts on Howard via Twitter.
Howard is an example of the fact that potential-has-a-shelf-life. Laker fans, be patient, allow Mitch & Co. to work the free agent market.
— Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33) July 9, 2013
Then, later in the evening, a story by ESPNLA’s Arash Markazi revealed further how the Hall of Famer feels about Howard.
When Kareem was asked about teaching Dwight Howard the sky hook, he said, “At least he'd have an offensive move.”
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) July 9, 2013
Dwight says he wants to learn from Hakeem. Kareem said Dwight said the same thing to him and never heard from him again.
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) July 9, 2013
But Kareem wasn’t done there!
"He gets the ball on offense, oh my God, he doesn’t know what to do. It’s usually a turnover, people come and take the ball from him or tie his arms up. Offensively, he doesn’t get it. Hasn’t made any progress. We (the Lakers, when Abdul-Jabbar was a special assistant coach) played them in ’09, and when I saw him this past season, he was the same player."
And he isn’t the only former Lakers center who has strong feelings toward Howard. Earlier this weekend, Shaq commented on Howard leaving LA for Houston.
"“We’ve all been in L.A., and not a whole lot of people can handle being under the bright lights. Everybody wants to do it, but when you get there, there are certain pressures. I think it was a safe move for him to go to a little town like Houston. That’s right, little town. I said it.”"
Kareem and Shaq join a growing list of people to tear into the former Lakers center, and they likely won’t be the last.