Dwight Howard apologizes for how he handled things in Orlando

Everyone has to go through a growth process. Right now we’re witnessing the maturation of Dwight Howard. The Lakers face off against the Magic in Orlando on Tuesday. In a recent interview Dwight apologized for the way he handled the situation with his former team:

“In Orlando, I handled a lot of stuff the wrong way,” he said, sitting at his kitchen table. “If any of those people in Orlando are upset with how I did it, I apologize for the way I handled it and the way it was handled in the media. I really just got caught up in wanting to please everybody else. I really love that city. That was the hardest thing to do was to leave that city because I basically grew up there. That was my whole life. Orlando was it. I did not want to leave all that behind — the city, just everything about it. The fans. But I wanted a change for my life. I just felt like there was something else out there for me.”

“There are a lot of things about me that have changed,” said Howard. “I’m becoming a better man because of the stuff that has happened to me this last year and a half. Everybody goes through stuff like this. Even though I’m going through it where everybody in the world can see it, I’m happy that it’s happening. If it didn’t happen, I’d be stuck in my ways. I would never change, and then it would be a lot worse. For all this stuff to happen, for me to sit back and see and evaluate myself and what I could’ve done better and realize that I needed to make a change, I’m getting better. I’m growing up. I’m maturing.”

Dwight also said that playing alongside Kobe has made him a better professional and man.  That’s great, you need Kobe’s “I-don’t- give-a-damn” attitude heading back into Orlando Tuesday.  Dwight said it will be crazy and Kobe says, “save that emotional sh*t for retirement.”

“Emotional? Man, I’ll talk to him,” a plainly unemotional Bryant said Sunday. “Just go out there and bust their [rear]. Show them what they’re missing. Save the emotional [stuff] for when you retire.”