After speaking with Link on the phone, Howard quickly got in touch with the Grizzlies' management.
As a result, his workout and interview were arranged soon afterward.
Under normal circumstances, Howard did not need to report early. It would have been polite enough for him to simply show up on time for the workout and interview.
However, to the Grizzlies' management's great surprise, Howard arrived a day early for an individual workout.
In his own words, "I wanted to get used to this place in advance so I could perform better in the workout."
Naturally, Link was not bored enough to go watch Howard work out, but he was still somewhat surprised to hear that Howard had arrived early.
Was this attitude really coming from Howard?
If Howard had shown this kind of attitude back with the Lakers, he and Kobe probably would not have fallen out.
That night, Howard even sent Link a text, asking him to attend his interview and workout the next day.
Strictly speaking, Link was Howard's junior. When Link entered the league as an undrafted player, Howard was already a superstar.
The NBA still placed considerable importance on seniority. No matter how good you were, you generally had to show respect to veteran players. And veterans, most of the time, would not be so humble toward younger players.
Take Tony Allen and Randolph last season, for example. Their abilities had already fallen behind younger players like Jokic and Dinwiddie, yet Jokic and Dinwiddie still had to listen to those two old guys.
But now, Howard, as a veteran, was treating Link like an interviewer.
That was enough to show that Howard had lowered his stance incredibly low—lower even than he did in front of the media.
Had that guy really changed? They would have the