Dwight Howard may or may not play in a game for the Lakers some day

When do we get to see Dwight on the Lakers? (Getty Images)

After reports late Thursday night that Dwight Howard would make his debut against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, Lakers Mike Brown tried to temper expectations.

With many people pining to see how Howard would work with Steve Nash or Pau Gasol or Kobe Bryant or Antawn Jamison, Brown let everybody know it wasn't a guarantee his new center would be cleared to play. Via the Daily News:

"If he practices tomorrow and our medical people at the end of practice say he can play, he's going to play," Brown said following the Lakers' shootaround Friday at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, where they will play the Sacramento Kings tonight in their fifth preseason game. "People keep asking me and that's the answer that I've given. But people have taken that answer and assume Dwight's playing. The funny thing about it is people that are printing that, there is a chance he may not play Sunday."

There you go. Howard will definitely be a member of the Lakers on Sunday and he may be cleared to play in his first preseason action. If he's not cleared, the Lakers' next preseason game is Wednesday against the Clippers at Staples Center.

Although we all may be impatient to see where this Dwight Howard teamup goes for the Lakers and just how good they become, it's probably smart of Brown and the Lakers' medical staff to take this slowly. They should make sure they're careful with his back and have it fully healed or healed enough to not endanger his future.

We may have to wait just a bit longer to see those Nash to Howard alley-oops. Tune in Sunday to find out.