Dwight Howard shuts down Andrew Bynum questions in advance of Lakers next game against Sixers

The storylines are predictable anytime one team is set to face another that features one of its former players.

The new player will be asked about the old one, and that’s especially true when those players were All-Stars who were swapped for one another in a deal that anyone would classify as nothing short of a blockbuster.

Dwight Howard, however, has no interest in such things.

The Lakers will face the Sixers in Philadelphia on Sunday, the team that now has Andrew Bynum on its roster, though not on its basketball court.

While Howard has returned earlier than expected from back surgery (and is still not yet back to 100 percent), Bynum has struggled with knee issues that have kept him from putting on a Sixers uniform to this point for any of the team’s regular season contests.

Howard was asked about Bynum after the Lakers finally got back in the win column Friday by beating the Wizards, and for once, he wisely decided to remain mum on a potentially controversial topic.

From Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com:

“I know what it feels like to be injured and not being able to help your team, but we have enough problems on our team that I need to put my focus on. I wish him the best and hopefully he gets healthy and he can stay healthy, but my focus is that I remain healthy and I get back to 100 percent and our team.”

Howard clearly didn’t want to talk about Bynum. When the guy with the goofy hairdo and unfortunate knees was first brought up, Howard rebuffed the subject matter, saying, “That has nothing to do with tonight’s game.”

When told Bynum has something to do with the Lakers’ next game, as well as having something to do with being the only other center in the league who can come close to matching Howard’s skill set, he replied, “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

The thing is, we really don’t want him to say anything.

Many of us wish Howard had taken this approach when asked about playing his former Orlando Magic team, instead of defending his ridiculous actions once again while at the same time finally showing at least a little bit of contrition.

This time, he made the right choice.