Howard's cape came with a tear. Offseason back surgery has limited him, and the criticism of the superstar center has been undeserved in a season filled with pain.
"Have you seen the picture of that thing that came out of his back?" asked Metta World Peace, his Lakers' teammate. "Have you ever seen the picture?"
World Peace never rang so true, as the biggest character in the Lakers' cast of personalities came to Howard's defense in an interview with Bleacher Report before the Lakers' most recent ache, a Monday night loss to the Golden State Warriors.
World Peace spoke like a school kid who just wanted to share something gross and happened to stick up for a friend in doing so.
The opportunity to see the photo came following the game, as Howard stood at his locker before the hoard of media collapsed beneath him with cameras.
And there it was. Disgusting. It was a picture of what looked like an elongated piece of chicken fat, a yellowish-white mass, laid out next to next to a ruler measuring at approximately five-and-a-half inches.
"It was pretty nasty," World Peace said. "I don't even know how the hell he played. If he showed you the picture of that thing that came out of his back, the general public would take back all of the comments they made about him."
Howard has played through the pain, the losing and the criticism. His injury could have kept him out until January, yet he played the preseason.
He just hasn't, injury or no injury, been enough to fix the franchise (with championship-or-bust expectations) that's been bounced in the second round of the playoffs in each of its last two seasons.
When the Lakers' season was spiraling, Bryant's comments would heave Howard in front of the losing Lakers' train. The NBA world buzzed with headlines of Howard lacking the edge to push the Lakers forward.
Howard's brilliance as a star in Orlando always had less to do with his numbers—as elite as they were for the position—and everything to do with his superstar personality.
After Monday's loss though, Howard was giving quiet, one-word answers to the Lakers' media. He brushed off questions of minor injuries, likely laughing in his head about how the biggest back in the league is still in pain, just as it's been all season.
It's strange to see such a heaviness weighing down the seemingly always bright smile. So for the 10,000th time this season, the question was posed how he was handling the backlash.
"I think for the people who know me, who have known me for years, they know what type of person I am and what I've been through throughout the years. I'm not going to stop being that person because of all the negativity that's been going on throughout the year. There's no need to."
Howard always embraced the spotlight, but it's never been so focused with this lens of pessimism. Howard's poor handling of his exile from Orlando was the first of the negativity, but it's never been poured on like this before.
Playing alongside a forthright Bryant hasn't made it easier. Bryant told ESPNBoston's Jackie MacMullan in early February that Howard is too focused on image rather than production.
"Dwight worries too much about what people think. I told him, 'You can't worry about that. It's holding you back.' He says, 'OK, OK, OK,' but it's always hovering around him. He just wants people to like him. He doesn't want to let anyone down, and that gets him away from what he should be doing."
Bryant later came around to say the media manufactured the beef between him and Howard. But while words can certainly be exaggerated through mainstream, it's evident that the two superstars carry different ideologies.
"Even though they had some moments as far as arguing the offensive dynamics and how it's gone about, I think both parties have been open to try to make the changes to make it work," Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News told Bleacher Report.
"Whether that's going to result in a championship or not remains to be seen, but as far now they are trying to put everything behind them to try to maximize the talent they have on the floor."
After dropping to a season-worst eight games under .500 (17-25) on Feb. 21, the Lakers had been 10-5 before Monday's loss. In that stretch, Howard has averaged 16.5 points, 14.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks.
"I think he's playing phenomenal," Bryant said after Monday's loss in which Howard scored 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting. "We need to figure out a way to get him some more looks down low. And I tried to step back as much as I possibly could and allow that to develop."
Ultimately, Howard will be judged not on his personality, but his ability to lift the Lakers back to the success that Los Angeles has always flaunted.
"He's goofy; we know this. But if he was 100 percent and goofy it would be different," World Peace said. "He's just 70 percent and goofy."
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