The Los Angeles Lakers are off to a rough start to begin their 2021-22 season campaign, losing their first two games, at home, to the Warriors and Suns. Last night versus the Suns, Lakers' Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard were seen having a heated altercation on the sideline, that ended with other Lakers teammates having to separate the two.
For a team like Los Angeles with such lofty expectations heading into the season, two early losses on their home court and internal conflicts amongst teammates are not encouraging signs for Lakers' fans. Lakers' great and former president of basketball operations, Magic Johnson, reacted to the altercation on Twitter, expressing his frustration and disappointment.
Magic wrote, "Dwight Howard and AD got into a physical altercation on the bench... in my 42 years of being associated with the Lakers organization, I've never seen something like that smh."
In his postgame press conference, Howard downplayed the events, saying they'd it'd be a mistake to make the situation bigger than what it was. Howard added, "Oh yeah. We squashed it right then and there. We just had a disagreement about something that was on the floor. We're both very passionate about winning. We didn't wanna lose this game."
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Still, the Lakers did lose the game, which wasn't nearly as close as the 115-105 final score would indicate. Though it may be early in their season, it seems as if they're lacking rhythm and continuity. These things can be ironed out throughout the course of an 82-game season, but with so many other teams across the NBA capable of playing at an elite level, it won't be an easy task for AD, Howard, LeBron James, and the rest of the Lakers' players.
Los Angeles concludes their three-game homestand to begin the season, Sunday night, when they take on the Memphis Grizzles.
Check out video of the sideline altercation, below: