It may be a little easier to take when you've left one sinking franchise to join another poised to contend for another playoff run.
Dwight Howard saw his past and his future Wednesday during the Houston Rockets' 134-108 dismantling of the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center.
The Rockets all-star center scored 20 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, blocked three shots and joined in on at least two chants from the Lakers crowd saying, "Howard sucks!"
Extramustard.com reported that Howard, who famously jilted the Lakers last summer to sign with the Houston Rockets, received a technical for taunting, blew a kiss to the Lakers' booing fans, and then even joined in on a couple of choruses of "Howard sucks."
Howard joined the Lakers during the 2012-13 season along with point guard Steve Nash, and the two were supposed to help Kobe Bryant and company return to the NBA Finals.
It didn't quite work out that way.
The team fired coach Mike Brown after a 1-4 start, lost Nash for a good portion of the season when he broke his leg during the second game of the season and had a 17-25 record at one point during the season.
Bryant's ruthless personality clashed with Howard's easy-going style, and the Lakers were forced into a furious second-half-of-the-season rally to eke into the playoffs with a 45-37 record. But Bryant, who was often playing 48 minutes a night during the second half of the season, blew out his Achilles heel in the third-to-last game of the regular season.
Even though Los Angeles made the postseason, the club suffered a four-game sweep at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs.
The first chance Howard got, he packed his thinks and went to Houston as a free agent.
The Rockets have the third best record in the Western Conference this season. The Lakers are tied for the worst record in the Western Conference.
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