Los Angeles Lakers star Dwight Howard has been cleared to play by shoulder specialist Dr. James Tibone. The doctor confirmed that no further damage has been sustained by Howard since his injury.
Howard is expected to play when the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Utah Jazz on Friday.
Dwight aggravated his already injured torn labrum while pushing through a screen by Grizzlies’ Rudy Gay during Wednesday nights match.
Following his injury Howard said:
“It felt real bad. I didn’t want to try to play through it because I didn’t want to hurt it any worse, so (the Lakers’ training staff) asked me not to play.
“I still feel it. It’s still aggravated. It’s something that I’m going to have to learn how to cope with. The biggest thing is just getting it stronger so it won’t continue to bother me.”
Howard originally missed three games from the same torn labrum after becoming tangled up with Caron Butler during the Lakers match against the Los Angeles Clippers on January 4. Without Dwight Howard in the lineup, the Lakers dropped three games in a row.
Speaking of his initial recovery Howard told reporters on Wednesday:
“It was pretty much good. I was doing all the (rehabilitation) work with it every day and then this happened.”
During his 14 minutes of play against the Grizzlies, Howard struggled with 0 of 4 from the field in 14 minutes of play.
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