Dwight Howard took a shot at LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers for not letting him shoot, and he did that in a not-so-subtle manner.
Answering a fan query who asked him why he wasn’t practicing shooting free throws or jumpers in his early years, Howard, who averages a career 21.4 3P% and 56.7 FT% took to Twitter to explain.
His response comes off as a veiled dig against the Lakers, and although he didn’t name-drop anyone in the tweet, he made sure he got his point across.
You are talking to someone that shot and still shoots 1,000 jump shots a day 🤔 I was told not to shoot before and being the team player I am I stuck to my role 💯 https://t.co/u3HB6H3fF0 pic.twitter.com/Gp7bdRM6wi
— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) February 2, 2023
You are talking to someone that shot and still shoots 1,000 jump shots a day I was told not to shoot before and being the team player I am I stuck to my role
While at it, Howard also added clips of him practicing his shooting to further prove his point. Looking at the tweet, one would feel that the Lakers think-tank would have asked him to focus on his defense and on his role as a center, and during the 2021-22 season, former Lakers coach Frank Vogel did just that.
Further responding to fans’ queries, Howard explained that the instruction was simple. He wouldn’t be playing if he was shooting, and he chose the former. And for good measure, he also added that he should have had a better free throw percentage.
Per Lakers Nation, Vogel preferred that Howard does his job of taking care of business in the paint.
“He does work on it, he does shoot it well. But we’re best with him dominating in the paint, so that’s what we’re encouraging with him. But to his credit, he has worked on it and does take pride in it, but his role for now for us is going to dominate in the paint.”
So it appears that Howard did believe in his shooting abilities, even if the team’s orders were otherwise. Given the Lakers’ struggles to shoot from downtown, perhaps it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to ask him to launch some from three-point land.
LeBron James’ Had Told Dwight Howard When He Could Shoot 3-Pointers For The Lakers
The former Defensive Player of The Year had a unique challenge from Lakers superstar LeBron James. He was allowed to shoot 3s only if he fulfilled one condition during the game.
Speaking on one of his Instagram Live sessions, (via Fansided) the big man revealed that James had let him take a few shots from beyond the arc only after he had a block or two to show for in the game. He said that James had asked him to register a couple of blocks for every 3 he attempted for the side.
This could mean that Howard’s tweets responding to fans could mean a smart dig at James. Clearly, the latter had laid his conditions, and while the center didn’t name him or Vogel, this was a neat dig at the duo because of his shooting skills.
Howard’s future in the NBA remains uncertain, but he has kept himself busy playing with the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League in Taiwan. Only time will tell if he does make a comeback and hopefully give a glimpse of his shooting abilities.
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