Dwight Howard Posts Cryptic Message About Potential NBA Return

Matt Levine | Nov 25, 2024

Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Former NBA star center Dwight Howard posted a cryptic message on social media following the Los Angeles Lakers' loss to the Denver Nuggets. Los Angeles dropped another game to the Nuggets on Saturday and Howard wanted to make his claim known that he is here to help.

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— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) November 24, 2024

Howard has been angling to return to the NBA for some time now, mainly attempting to win back a spot on the Lakers. Los Angeles is very thin in the frontcourt and Howard could help fill the role of a backup center.

During the Lakers 2020 title run, Howard was key in defending Nuggets star center Nikola Jokić. His big body and size negated the abilities of Jokić a little, helping Los Angeles to defeat Denver.

Since then, the Lakers haven't been able to solve the Nuggets. Denver has knocked Los Angeles out of the postseason in each of the last two playoffs.

Howard has pointed this out but to no avail so far. Los Angeles hasn't seemed interested in bringing him back to town for a fourth time.

The former center also had some comments on the matter, saying that Jokić wouldn't score on him if they were allowed to play a certain way.

"If they'd allow me to hoop like they allow him to hoop, I bet you he won't have them numbers on me," said Howard. 

However, the former Defensive Player of the Year hasn't played since the 2021-22 season. In 16.2 minutes of game action with the Lakers during that season, Howard averaged 6.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per game.

Howard showed very little movement on the defensive end of the floor due to his age and became a liability on that end. It's possible that he could fill a role for the Lakers, or any other team for that matter if given another chance but it seems like his NBA days are over.

Howard will be heading to the Hall-of-Fame so he has nothing left to prove. He is an eight-time All-Star, two-time blocks champion, eight-time All-NBA player, five-time All-Defensive player, and a three-time Defensive Player of the Year.

The veteran has had a special career and concluded it all with his championship in Los Angeles. While things may not have ended the way he wanted, Howard will go down as one of the more memorable players in recent times.

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