Dwight Howard Played Through Torn MCL In WCF

Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard said he played with a torn MCL and meniscus in last season’s playoffs.

People knew at the time Howard was playing through pain, but it was labeled as a “sprained left knee”.

Howard suffered the injury in game one of the series when he and Josh Smith collided but he never ended up missing any action. “I never said anything about it. I tried to cover it up saying it was a sore knee”.

The Golden State Warriors went on to win the series in five games and it is unknown how much of an impact it would have had if Howard was fully healthy as the Warriors were clearly the better team but it certainly makes you wonder.

“I was basically playing with a torn MCL and meniscus”, Howard said. “And it hurt, but we can make up for it this season”.

Team doctors said Howard did not need offseason surgery because the tears weren’t that severe.

A closer look: The New Orleans Pelicans play their second preseason game on Friday night against the Atlanta Hawks in Jacksonville, Fla. He played in the remaining three games of the conference finals, averaging 14.4 points and 14.4 rebounds for the series.

After an injury-mired campaign where he had already missed 41 games, he was clearly in no mood to sit out the biggest games of the season. It’s fair to assume, as he turns 30 in December and as he comes off the worst statistical season since his teenaged rookie year, that his most dominant days are behind him.