The Lakers cant end their season without an infamous Metta World Peace quote.
Per ESPN,the Lakers held their exit interviews Monday after their disappointing loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Even though Howard has yet to speak to press, he tweeted to his fans:
“I hope I get the chance to make it up to you! Thank u la,”
No one knows what Howard meant in that tweet. It could stand for so many things such as him returning to LA for a 5 year $118 million contract extension or Howard is going to make most LA fans happy and just leave. Whatever road Howard decides to choose, Metta World Peace took some of the weight of Howard’s back and placed back on the real leaders of the Lakers, Kobe, Pau and himself.
“I think we put a little too much pressure on Dwight and as responsible leaders, we gave him a little too much responsibility,” said World Peace.
“Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and myself, we weren’t responsible enough. We should have been louder voices. So, I take a lot of responsibility and I’m sure Kobe and Pau do also. So next year, we definitely will. We have to be the voice in the locker room consistently.”
World Peace himself has a choice to make if he’s returning this season, but he’s leaving that decision up to his agent.
“You never know,” said World Peace, who added he would leave it in the hands of his agent, Sam Cornstein. “Anything can happen. You never know. Right now for me it’s just all about next year, about winning, coming back next year and winning.”
I truly thought I saw a glimpse of hope during the last few games of the regular season. Howard started to play like the big man he is supposed to be, then all things fell apart. The way Howard left game 4 against the Spurs was one of the worst acts of sportsmanship and leadership I’ve seen. You cant just do any type of “making up” to Laker fans. Howard is going to have to serenade the town of LA and go through a million hoops. Laker fans are use to one thing… winning. Kobe Bryant and past players have it etched in fans mind that theres no other option than winning and if Howard wants to come back he needs to gain that concept, the Lakers dont lose.