1. He could be a great redemption story
As Americans, we love redemption stories, and the Lakers have had several of them through the years.
Bob McAdoo was in a similar situation as Howard when he was picked up by the team around Christmas 1981, and he played a key role off the bench as they won the world championship that season, as well as another one in 1985.
Mitch Richmond had a very strong NBA career in the 1990s, but no team success. He signed with the purple and gold for his swan song in 2001-02 and ended it with an NBA title.
Ron Artest was considered a problem that no NBA team wanted to touch a decade ago. But Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson saw him as nothing more than a misunderstood soul, and they were right, as Artest helped them beat the Boston Celtics to win a world championship right away, while showing the world that he was actually a great human being.
Hell, Bryant himself was a redemption story himself around the same time.
By signing with the purple and gold and helping them claim their 17th Larry O’Brien trophy, Howard can change the noise that’s always surrounded him – that he’s self-centered, that he’s too “goofy” or “weird” and that he doesn’t take his craft seriously enough.
It’s funny how wearing a championship ring magically ends all that negative talk and replaces it with a narrative that one is now a selfless team player who has matured and found himself after all these years.
It’s happened for several other athletes, and it can happen for Howard – if he wants it badly enough.