VIDEO Ice Cube Curses Out Dwight Howard: Rapper Calls Former Laker Center Dwight “Coward” During Concert

Los Angeles-native rapper Ice Cube has been a Lakers fan his whole life, as evidenced by his reference to the NBA’s winningest club in the 1993 hip-hop classic, “It Was A Good Day.”

So it’s no surprise that like the rest of the Lakers fanbase, Ice Cube was upset with Dwight Howard’s decision to spurn Los Angeles for the Houston Rockets. But he took things to another level during a concert on Sunday at the Greek Theater.

“F**K Dwight Howard!” Cube shouts to the packed in audience. “We don’t need no punk ass (expletive) on our team!”

Cube then goes on to dub the 27-year-old center “Dwight Coward,” much to the crowd's delight, as first posted by HoopsHype.com

Born O’Shea Jackson, the 44-year-old rapper, movie producer, and entrepreneur also said Howard was undeserving to join the Lakers illustrious history that includes Hall of Famers Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, and Magic Johnson.

The Lakers could have offered Howard an extra year and $30 million more than any other team, but he opted for Houston, citing his belief that they are better built to win a championship now. Howard reached a deal with the Rockets for four years and $88 million.

Los Angeles and team general manager Mitch Kupchak pulled out all the stops to convince Howard to stay. They even started a city-wide media campaign complete with billboards with the hashtag “#StayD12”. And according to Fansided, one of the ads is still standing.

Howard's departure now puts the Lakers in a precarious position, since it appears they built much of their immediate future around him staying. The Lakers were reportedly convinced that a year in sunny Los Angeles surrounded by celebs and a collection of All-Star talent would be enough to re-sign the prized big man.

Now, the presumed strategy is for the Lakers to avoid taking on any other contracts beyond the 2014 season, with potential free agents such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony likely to be available. The Lakers could have enough cap space to sign two or three players to maximum contracts, much like the Miami Heat did in the summer of 2010. The strategy worked for Miami, who won two NBA titles as a result.

Check out the video below of Cube’s rant. (Warning: the video contains strong, coarse language and should only be watched at the viewer's discretion.)