by Adi Joseph, USA TODAY Sports

Dwight Howard has the gall to question the unquestioned leader.

A day after Kobe Bryant demanded urgency from his injured Los Angeles Lakers teammate, Howard fired back Thursday in defense of his precautionary approach to rehabilitating his shoulder.

“That’s his opinion; that’s it,” Howard told ESPN. “He’s not a doctor. I’m not a doctor. That’s his opinion.”

Howard has missed the Lakers’ past three games and was listed as a game-time decision for Thursday night’s contest at the Boston Celtics. The All-Star center has taken criticism from many for his hesitance to return, but he dealt with the same torn labrum in his right shoulder earlier this season and had back issues that caused him to miss the end of last season for the Orlando Magic.

But Pau Gasol tore a muscle in his foot Tuesday night, leaving the Lakers short on height and health.

“We don’t have time for (Howard’s shoulder) to heal,” Bryant told ESPN on Wednesday. “We need some urgency.”

It’s a refrain repeated by many fans, particularly after Howard said Tuesday, before Gasol’s injury, he wouldn’t play hurt if he thought he was putting his career at risk. That kind of talk, despite its logical roots, doesn’t fly with fans. Or Bryant, apparently.

Howard stuck to his guns Thursday.

I want to play,” he told ESPN. “I mean, why wouldn’t I want to play? But at the same time, this is my career, this is my future, this is my life. I can’t leave that up to anybody else because nobody else is going to take care of me. So, if people are pissed off that I don’t play or if I do play, whatever it may be, so what? This is my career. If I go down, then what? Everybody’s life is going to go on. I don’t want to have another summer where I’m rehabbing and trying to get healthy again.”

… [For more on Dwight Howard fires back at Kobe Bryant after criticism, click here.]