Eight-time NBA All-Star Dwight Howard is growing frustrated with a lack of interest and opportunity from teams around the NBA and is starting to seriously consider ending his career at 36 years old.
Howard was arguably the best center in the NBA for much of the first 15 years of the 21st century. He was a dominant force that was a double-double machine and a defensive anchor for the Orlando Magic teams he helped make the playoffs every year. At his best, he averaged over 20 points, 14 rebounds, and two blocks per game at a time when the league was beginning to transition away from a reliance on big men.
However, while his best days are behind him, he still believes he is capable of being an impact player in the league in 2022. But it seems teams around the association don’t feel the same way. He has drawn little interest and remains a free agent just days away from the start of the 2022-2023 season.
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The sad state of his once-great career has him frustrated because he believes he is undervalued. And he says the Los Angeles Lakers started that trend two seasons ago when they chose not to re-sign him despite helping them win a championship in 2020.
“I want to play but at the same [time] there’s like no teams that really want to allow me to play. That’s how I’ve been feeling from the last situation with the Lakers. I felt like I did enough to help them win a championship to really deserve a spot on the team and a chance to start and get big minutes, and it didn’t happen.”
–Dwight Howard on “All the Smoke” podcast (h/t BasketNews.com)
Dwight Howard: ‘Do I wanna just call it quits?’
Since he still remains a free agent and isn’t viewed as a key contributor by many NBA front offices, Howard admits it has led him to seriously consider bringing a close to his 18-year career.
- Dwight Howard stats (career): 15.7 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 1.8 BPG
“After that, I was like, ‘Man, I don’t want to have to bust my ass for another whole summer, train three-a-days, go on a crazy diet, do all this s*** and then get back to a team and sit on the bench or not get to really help somebody win. And it’s been like, ‘Damn, do I wanna just call it quits and do some other stuff or go back at it and show people I still got it.'”
-Dwight Howard
Howard averaged just 16.2 minutes for a Lakers team in 2021-2022 that didn’t even reach the NBA play-in tournament. He was the first pick overall in the 2004 NBA Draft at 19-year-old and was an All-Star for eight straight seasons, playing for the Magic, Lakers, and Houston Rockets.