Most NBA champions get a chance to defend their title, but Dwight Howard never had the opportunity after capturing his first championship in 2020. While the Lakers initially offered a deal, they rescinded the contract in a move that left the veteran big man feeling betrayed.
“I was told that there was a contract, and then I was so happy that I heard I was coming back, I tweeted about it, and my agent called me back and said, ‘Hey. The Lakers took the contract off the table,” said Howard in an interview with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. “You gotta take that tweet down.’ I was like, ‘Damn! Why would they do that?’ And it really kind of messed with me.”
As a former superstar and face of the Orlando Magic, Dwight certainly had ambitions of a bigger role on the Lakers, and he felt he earned it after helping the Lakers to their first championship since 2010.
“I came in with the right attitude towards winning, not worried about points, rebounds,” added Howard. “I was just worried about us winning another championship, and so many people made a big emphasis on me worrying about points and all that stuff, which I think all players want to get out in the game and score and be effective.”
Howard firmly believes that the Lakers could have won multiple more championships if they had run it back with the same core. So when Howard found out he would not be coming back, it struck a nerve that he still feels to this day.
“I was highly upset that I didn’t get a chance to compete for a title defense because I believed that we had a special team and we had a window where we could’ve won and been to the NBA Finals multiple years.”
The 2019-20 Lakers squad was dominant. With LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Alex Caruso, and Howard, they went 52-19 in a season that was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and being forced to play in a quarantine bubble, the Lakers maintained their focus and won the championship to complete a historic season. While Howard played a relatively minor role off the bench, he still made a notable impact with averages of 7.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game on 72.9% shooting as a vital rim protector off the bench.
Instead of bringing back that same roster, however, the Lakers pivoted to change things up by signing Marc Gasol, Dennis Schroder, Montrezl Harrell, Wesley Matthews, and Markieff Morris. In exchange, the Lakers let go of Howard, Rajon Rondo, and JaVale McGee. While the swaps may have been upgrades on paper, the results were actually a decline for the Lakers, who went 42-30 to finish seventh in the West.
In the end, Dwight joined the 76ers for one season before re-signing with the Lakers in 2021-22. While Howard would rejoin the Lakers in the last act of his career, it did not end in a championship, and Howard hasn’t stopped thinking about what was potentially left on the table. Had the Lakers been given a chance to defend their crown, things might have turned out differently, but we’ll never get the chance to find out.
