Lakers Star Dwight Howard Injured During Loss To Suns

Los Angeles Lakers star Dwight Howard has once again aggravated the torn labrum in his right shoulder. Howard’s third injury to the arm occurred on Wednesday night during his teams 92-86 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

The arm was re-injured when Howard was blocked by the Suns’ Shannon Brown in the fourth quarter. Howard attempted to bring the ball from his waist to the hoop following an offensive rebound. Howard, after making his attempt, fell to the floor in obvious pain.

After he exited the court, the Suns went on a 19-8 run to capture the victory.

Team officials will re-evaluate Howard’s shoulder on Thursday to determine if he can play against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.

After the game, Howard told reporters:

“It’s real sore. Everything on (the right) side (of my body) is hurting pretty bad right now.”

Dwight Howard injured his shoulder on January 4 while playing against the Los Angeles Clippers. Howard re-injured the arm last week against the Memphis Grizzlies but continued to play in subsequent games.

After Wednesday’s game, Howard said the pain he felt was the worst since originally injuring his shoulder.

Asked if he will continue to play, Howard responded:

“I’m going to try as much as I can but I don’t want to cause more damage to my shoulder. I don’t want to (miss any games), but we’ll see.”

When asked if surgery would be required to fix the injury, Howard said, “not right now.”

Fellow teammate Kobe Bryant has played through shoulder issues and said Howard would simply need to adjust his play.

“I’m not worried about it,” Bryant said. “It is going to be an all-season thing. That’s how those types of injuries are with the labrum. I’ve had them before. Lamar (Odom) when he was here had them before. It’s one of those things when you get banged like that going up, you’re going to get that stinging sensation. That’s just how it’s going to be.”

Do you think Dwight Howard should take some time off to deal with his injured shoulder?

[Image via Ira Bostic / Shutterstock.com]