Dwight Howard Ejected After Houston Rockets Debut

By Christine Thomasos, Christian Post Reporter Sunday, October 06, 2013

Dwight Howard may have had a strong start in his first pre-season game with the Houston Rockets, but the polarizing basketball star was also ejected.

While Howard, 27, announced that he would join the Houston Rockets after only playing one season with the Los Angeles Lakers, he debuted after becoming a free agent at the close of the 2012-2013 season. Although he debuted with 19 points, nine rebounds, three assists and a block, Howard was ejected before the fourth quarter of the game even began.

Howard mouthed off at the referees for what he perceived was bad calls, and received two technical fouls and an ultimate ejection with one minute left in the third quarter on Saturday.

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While the Rockets lost to the New Orleans Pelicans in the game, Howard seemed to predict that he would be a villain this year before the season began.

"Last year, I felt like I was the villain," Howard told Yahoo Sports after his disastrous season with the Lakers. "Now, I feel like I'm an even bigger villain."

The center made it clear that he was unhappy with his season as a Laker and fans returned the favor after he was ejected during the first round of the playoffs where his team was swept last season.

The center took to Twitter after the loss to apologize to fans amid the backlash that he was getting on the social networking website.

"I'm still upset about tonights game and the way this season ended. Im mad I lost my cool. I'm sorry for letting my team and our fans down when ... they needed me the most," Howard tweeted. "If there's one thing I've learned this year its that I need to be more responsible for my actions and learn to ... 'breathe'!"