Los Angeles Lakers: Top Ten Moments of the 2019-2020 Season
By Ethan Temkin
10.) Dwight’s perfect game against Charlotte
It may not have been an impressive stat line, 16 points, 10 rebounds, along with four blocks, but when looking at the bigger picture of what this game meant, not only for Dwight Howard but the Lakers organization as a whole, you start to understand the significance of it.
After losing DeMarcus Cousins to an ACL injury before him ever suiting up for the purple and gold, the Lakers organization was left scrambling to find a reliable back-up center, as Cousins’ injury occurred well after the start of free agency, meaning that the pool of players to choose from was incredibly slim.
The decision came down to Joakim Noah and Dwight Howard, and truth be told, a lot of Laker fans preferred the former. After signing Howard to a one-year, non-guaranteed, ‘prove it’ deal that the big man himself asked for, Laker fans were still skeptical as to what kind of impact he would have for the team. How could a player who had played for four different teams in the past four years, make any kind of significant impact on a team with championship aspirations?
Those prejudices were quickly squashed after only the third game of the season against the Charlotte Hornets, as the former All-Star played a perfect game, going 8/8 from the field in only 22 minutes of play.
The significance of this game is that it became a sign that Dwight Howard had accepted a role that many former star players were unwilling to do, and that the Lakers had a legit back-up center for the rest of the season.