At great risk of reopening old wounds and after careful consideration, we note that Dwight Howard offered commentary this weekend on what happened back in March when hours before he would likely have been traded to the Nets, he changed his mind, leading to all manner of weeping and gnashing of teeth here and elsewhere in Nets fandom.

"That was a team I wanted to go," Howard said of the Nets. "I felt like I could go there and write my own history. I was worried about what people would think. 'If you go to L.A. everybody's going to say you're like Shaq.' ... And now I'm at the point where, so what? Who cares what people say? This is my destiny, this is where I wanted to be, this is what I wanted to do with my life."

Howard, still recovering from herniated disk surgery that took place five months ago, won't be in the Lakers' starting line-up on Opening Night.

• Dwight Howard didn't want to be like LeBron James - Mark Medina - Los Angeles Times
• Dwight Howard of Los Angeles Lakers -- 'I never wanted anybody to hate me' - ESPN Los Angeles - Ric Bucher - ESPN