Prior to Friday night's matchup with the Miami Heat, the second of their Florida road trip, Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard gifted his teammates with pairs of Apple AirPods Pro — the wireless earphone devices to listen to music, make phone calls and more from a connected iPhone.
Howard left a pair of AirPods on the seat of each player's locker at American Airlines Arena before tip-off against the Heat on Friday, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN on Twitter.
Dwight Howard gifted the Lakers sets of AirPods Pro in the pregame locker room in Miami, placing a pair on each player’s seat.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 13, 2019
Howard is having a semi-career resurgence in his second stint with the Lakers. Coming off the bench for L.A., the eight-time All-Star big man is averaging 6.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in slightly fewer than 20 minutes per game.
Howard first embarked on a career with the Lakers after the infamous four-team trade in 2012, which saw the Orlando Magic send their three-time Defensive Player of the Year to the City of Angels.
That doomed tenure lasted one season before Howard signed with the Houston Rockets. Howard apparently has been humbled after the past few years saw multiple teams waive or trade him and single-season stints on the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards drastically reduce his self-image around the NBA.
Appreciative of the opportunity to play on a dangerous team like the current Lakers — who are riding a five-game winning streak — Howard has thrived in a new role. Even teammate LeBron James said recently that Howard is “thriving.”
“He’s thriving. He’s thriving,” James said, via SB Nation. “He’s gonna have more years in his career and he’s gonna add an ingredient to our team’s success because of the role that he’s accepting. He’s just making the most of it every single night. Defending at a high level, rebounding, blocking shots, catching lobs and with zero ego.
The Lakers continue their east coast road trip in South Beach tonight, the second game of a five-contest swing.
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