Dwight Howard Says He’s ‘Close’ to Returning to Action

Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard has sat out 23 games this season to rest his balky right knee, but thinks he’s getting closer to playing again.

There’s no set timetable for the big fella’s return to action, however.

Howard went through a full practice with his squad this week, and felt good about his progress.

Per the Houston Chronicle:

Rockets center Dwight Howard said he is “close” to being back on the court for his team this season. […] “I have been feeling pretty good,” Howard said on Wednesday. “I had some pretty good days of practice this week.”

 

Howard did not give a specific date for his return, but was optimistic that he would be back shortly.

 

His workouts over the last few weeks have been some of the toughest of his career, he said. […] “We did some extremely tough workouts on the treadmill,” Howard said. “Any time anyone says ‘treadmill,’ I lose it because I don’t think anyone understands what they had me doing on the treadmill. I was just begging them, ‘Can I play so I cannot have to do this?’ Rehab is harder than the actual practice and all that stuff so the treadmill, I hate that word. I bought a treadmill and I am thinking about getting rid of it because of all the stuff they have had me do. After that, they had me start doing court workouts and even the court workouts were intense. We did some in Portland and a lot of the guys wanted to join in. They did a couple sets then were like, ‘Nah, this is pretty intense.’”