The 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers had every tool on paper to dominate on the hardwood, with four future Hall of Famers: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash, and Dwight Howard. But they got burned.
A first-round sweep and a torn Achilles shattered their wish, which turned the superteam’s narrative into a cautionary tale. Now Howard’s revealing why Bryant’s team never stood a chance from the jump.
Dwight Howard Details Herniated Disc Doomed Lakers’ Star-Studded Roster, Including Kobe Bryant
At the time, Howard joined legendary players Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, while Steve Nash had also arrived in Purple and Gold shortly before that. On paper, it screamed superteam. The league looked like it could be in serious trouble. Instead, it turned into one of the most disappointing chapters in Lakers history.
Howard just dropped the truth bomb in a recent podcast with NBA Europe. The big man wasn’t even supposed to lace up that season.
“A lot of times, in basketball, and in life, everybody wants things to happen right away. And that theme, we had, one, I had just came off one of the worst injuries you can have as a basketball player, herniated disk. And actually, I was not even supposed to play that whole year… I was not supposed to play at all,” Howard pointed out.
The injury was catastrophic. A herniated disc in his lower back requiring surgery in April 2012. Doctors pulled out what Howard later described as the largest herniated disc they’d ever removed from an athlete. The recovery timeline? A full year minimum.
Howard rushed back in four months. The chance to run with Kobe was too tempting. He couldn’t pass up Purple and Gold even if his body wasn’t ready.
The decision cost him badly. Howard played through serious pain during his Lakers debut season, never regaining his Orlando Magic form. His explosiveness vanished, defense suffered and signature rim protection looked below average.
Plus, the injury tale deserves some credit since Nash dealt with nerve damage while Gasol struggled fitting Mike D’Antoni’s system. Bryant carried the load at 34 alone since Howard also battled the herniated disc plus a torn labrum he suffered mid-season, grinding through minutes until his Achilles snapped late in the year.
Howard bounced to the Houston Rockets that summer after the superteam experiment lasted one miserable season. Looking back, D12 admits rushing back was foolish. He wanted to prove doubters wrong, showing domination in LA, but his body wasn’t ready for the grind.
The herniated disc set the tone for disaster. Everything spiraled from there. Egos clashed. Health deteriorated. The window slammed shut before it ever truly opened.
Howard eventually got his Lakers championship in 2020, coming back as a humble role player. But that 2012-13 squad was his very first best team that died before it lived. The worst injury you can have killed the biggest superteam that never was.
