Phil Jackson: Lakers Will Lose Dwight Howard Becasue Of D'Antoni

Phil Jackson is afraid Dwight Howard won’t re-sign with the L.A. Lakers and he places the blame squarely at the feet of Coach Mike D’Antoni.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Jackson responded ‘would you?” when asked if free agent Howard should re-sign in L.A. “If you felt like your game wasn’t going to be featured. You have to play in to Dwight Howard. You have to get to back and reestablish him as the center that he potentially was going to be. This year, he had four or five less touches in the post. Most of the things he got in there were on the move.”

 The Dwight Howard sweepstakes are indeed heating up, as the free agent center, beyond the Lakers, is rumored to be center mass on the radars of the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets and his hometown Atlanta Hawks.

Although the Lakers can offer him more than $30 million over the life of a contract than any other team, Howard seems to be struggling with making sense of the notion of returning to play under D’Antoni, whom he has indicted he felt under-utilized him this season.

“It’s not’s Mike’s style,” Jackson told The Times. “That’s the ownership or management made decision. That’s the decision they have to live with.”

Jackson added that if Howard is to succeed in L.A., there needs to be a significant change in the team’s overall philosophy.  

“Now it’s a critical time,” he said. “Is Dwight going to stay with them or leave? Now they have to figure out are we going to use this guy in the best possible form and support him in this role?”

Jackson added: “They can reform that team and they can do it the right way, I think Howard has to be the keystone of what that future’s about in that organization.”

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