Former Laker Dwight Howard Says He Had $7 Million Stolen From Him

The center discloses a story about losing $7 million.

Apr 10, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard (39) during the second half against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Professional athletes have to be cautious when deciding who handles their finances because they are susceptible to malpractice by those hired to advise their business ventures. Center Dwight Howard, a 2020 NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, was recently a victim of theft by his former agent in the form of $7 million dollars.

The eventual Hall of Famer has carved out a niche for himself as a popular personality even after his NBA playing days. Recently Howard went viral on X for his interview on "Dancing With the Stars." The former three-time Defensive Player of Year dedicated his performance to his son who was in attendance. His goal was to show his kids that anything is possible when they put their minds to it, which resonated heavily with the American audience.

Despite all his success, the former All-NBA center was apparently a victim of fraud, which he touched on in length during an episode of his YouTube podcast "Above The Rim with DH 12." Howard and his cast sat down with former NBA veteran Joe Smith, who went viral a year ago for an argument with his wife surrounding her creation of an OnlyFans page. This topic raised a number of questions about Smith's financial status which ended up leading to a conversation about business losses on the popular podcast.

When asked about the most money ever lost during their careers, Howard mentioned the most he's ever lost was $7 million dollars which was intended to be used as a bid to acquire WNBA team the Atlanta Dream. Howard's motivation for this purchase was his two daughters, Layla and Jayde. The Orlando Magic legend disclosed that his agent was the mastermind behind the money stolen from him which left Howard stunned.

“It was a part of my agent,”Howard reveals without taking a name.“My [mentality] was, I wanted to find him and beat the hell out of him. Like, I wanted to kill him.” 

Smith couldn't understand how a sum of money like this could go undetected until more details were unveiled.

“See it was like a group of people who was all in it together,” Howard said before disclosing how he was oblivious to their schemes when he sought their help. “I was looking to buy the Atlanta Dream, the basketball team for women. And so I was like ‘man, I want to really do this ‘cuz I got two daughters, one day they’re going to want to play basketball, I can set it up to where they can play for the Atlanta Dream.'”

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