Dwight Howard has apologized to the fans of Orlando ahead of his first return trip with the Lakers on Tuesday.

"In Orlando, I handled a lot of stuff the wrong way," Howard told the USA Today from his home. "If any of those people in Orlando are upset with how I did it, I apologize for the way I handled it and the way it was handled in the media.

"I really just got caught up in wanting to please everybody else. I really love that city. That was the hardest thing to do was to leave that city because I basically grew up there. That was my whole life. Orlando was it. I did not want to leave all that behind — the city, just everything about it. The fans. But I wanted a change for my life. I just felt like there was something else out there for me."

Howard has been widely criticized for how he handled his exit from the Magic and has lost sponsorship deals in the process.

"There are a lot of things about me that have changed," said Howard. "I'm becoming a better man because of the stuff that has happened to me this last year and a half. Everybody goes through stuff like this. Even though I'm going through it where everybody in the world can see it, I'm happy that it's happening.

"If it didn't happen, I'd be stuck in my ways. I would never change, and then it would be a lot worse. For all this stuff to happen, for me to sit back and see and evaluate myself and what I could've done better and realize that I needed to make a change, I'm getting better. I'm growing up. I'm maturing."