Dwight Howard cash: “After that, I wanted to…”

Today far from the NBA, Dwight Howard saw his career take a rather sad turn. It all started, however, last season, following a terrible disappointment for him to the point where the superstar actually considered retiring on the spot…

Not retained by the Lakers in the summer of 2022, Dwight Howard waited in vain for another franchise to offer him a contract. It is now in Taiwan that the pivot evolves in order to extend his career. When we know how much he was able to dominate for years, this is an inglorious end to his career, especially since his new team has been losing in the local championship.

However, it may well be that in his eyes, this is not his biggest disappointment. Instead, one thinks of the fact that he didn’t make the big league’s all-time Top 75, despite being a 2020 champion and three-time DPOY as well as one of the best interiors in the NBA. Returned to the subject a few months ago on the show Club Shay ShayD12 had not hidden his dismay in the face of this snob.

Dwight Howard disgusted by his absence from the NBA Top 75

I was very surprised not to be on the list. When I saw that I wasn’t there, I was really angry. I wondered if I wanted to play basketball again or if I was going to retire. I wondered why I was doing this. I did all that, accomplished a lot of things. I think I’ve been a great ambassador for the NBA internationally. I felt that was a complete disrespect.

Even people who say, “he doesn’t take things seriously”, how can people say that I don’t take the game seriously when I have been Defender of the Year 3 times? I had to take defense seriously to win this trophy 3 times in a row. And in fact I should have won it 4 times. I didn’t win it because I asked for a trade and there was all this hype about wanting to leave Orlando.

It does not make sense. I don’t take the game seriously? I played 18 years in the NBA, it’s proof that I took it seriously, otherwise I wouldn’t have played this long. Do I like having a good time? Yes, I’m doing something I’ve dreamed of since I was 3 years old. Of course I will smile and have fun. For a while, so much was said about my personality, how I relate to my teammates.

It’s crazy to think that I’m a bad teammate, that I’m cancer in the locker room, that I’m a bad guy, that I’m a devil, everything the journalists have said about me. Often, I thought to myself, “I would like to have a conversation with this journalist to find out why he thinks I am this type of person, or where he got the information from”. I always had the feeling of being a divisive player for the media.

Dwight Howard ticked a lot of boxes individually and collectively during his NBA career, but it wasn’t enough for the NBA to include him in its Top 75 all-time. The multiple controversies around his person have not worked in his favor, a finding that still disgusts the big man.