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Brian Windhorst Clowned on Stephen A. Smith for Bizarre Dwight Howard-Lakers Take

Thinking outside the box when it comes to the Lakers' frontcourt.

Kyle Koster

Brian Windhorst couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Brian Windhorst couldn't believe what he was hearing. / Awful Announcing on X
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The Los Angeles Lakers are much more suited to postseason success than they were a few weeks ago as early returns on the Luka Doncic-LeBron James pairing are quite exciting. One thing the organization would love to find, though, is a reliable big man to solidify the frontcourt. Since the trade deadline has come and gone and the Lakers' efforts to land someone to fill that role hit a snag, they have very limited options.

The available pool of potential additions is so underwhelming that Stephen A. Smith suggested, with a straight face on Tuesday's First Take, that Los Angeles should sign Dwight Howard. This unusual line of thinking elicited a solid bit from Brian Windhorst.

"Demarcus Cousins is playing in Mongolia, why don't you call him?" the NBA insider quipped. "Dwight Howard's going into the Hall of Fame because he's retired for so long. Are you being serious?"

Smith clarified that he was being serious only from this standpoint: "You don't need anything from him, you just need a big body who can rebound."

This whole thing somewhat amazingly began with Stephen A. prefacing his comments with the fact that he hasn't seen Howard in "a few years." Perhaps the last time was when Howard was with the Lakers during the 2021-'22 season in which he contributed 6.2 points per game.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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