Dwight Howard spoke about his decision to retire from the NBA on Gilbert Arenas’ podcast. While on the ‘Gil’s Arena’ show, Howard noted that he was blessed to have the career he had, but life in the NBA and in basketball kept him away from his home, and he wants that time to himself and his family now.
“I love the game, I’ve always loved it. I’ve put in so much work, so much time. Now I want to give that time to the kids. I done sacrificed so much time away, so I can train and do all that stuff. The kids are getting older…”
“Fans (in Taiwan) who never had a chance to come to see an NBA game, now they get the chance to watch us play. It’s an amazing feeling. Going over there brought me back to life…”
"I love the game… I put in so much work… Now I wanna give that time to the kids, I done sacrificed so much time away."
Dwight Howard on retiring from the NBA 🙌
(via @GilsArenaShow)pic.twitter.com/dGFPTpZYbx
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 1, 2024
Howard had a great career in the NBA and found a lot of success during his stint. Dwight entered the NBA in 2004, and immediately established himself as one of, if not the best young center in the league.
Howard would go on to win 3 Defensive Players of the Year awards and helped lead the Magic to the NBA Finals during his stint with the franchise.
His years in the NBA after leaving the Magic were difficult, as Howard had repeated failed stints with different teams, and eventually found himself out of the NBA. He would make his return with the Lakers in the 2019-20 NBA season and played a big part in their NBA championship win in the bubble.
While Howard wasn’t able to sustain his success in the league after that, it was a fitting close to what was a great, yet polarizing NBA career.
Dwight Howard Took Shots At Rudy Gobert
Dwight Howard also spoke about Rudy Gobert’s success with the Defensive Player of the Year award, having surpassed Dwight and winning the award four times.
Howard noted that Gobert didn’t deserve to win the awards as many times as he did, questioning his defensive shortcomings during the playoffs and how he could win the award in spite of that.
Furthermore, Dwight also spoke about his first stint with the Lakers, and explained why he did not click well with Kobe Bryant, a pairing that fans were initially excited about. He did note that he didn’t want to be with the Lakers, and that contributed to how tough things were for him.
However, he did show respect for Kobe, even rating him higher than Michael Jordan from a skill standpoint. Howard’s interview with Gilbert Arenas really gave us a lot of insight into how he looks at the game, and what his outlook on the NBA of today is.
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