Despite his status as a big name on the court, Dwight Howard has still not found a team for the 2022-23 season and things seem to be off to a bad start. The former pivot of the Lakers has therefore decided to try his luck, through a rather poignant cry from the heart.
16 minutes per game for 6.2 points and 5.9 rebounds on average, such were the statistics of Dwight Howard last season. At the heart of the slump that was the Lakers superteam, the big man did not escape the collective and individual struggles, showing much less impact in the game than in the past. If he is still physically robust, he is now 37 years old and therefore can no longer follow the rhythm imposed every evening.
In addition to that, his numbers have been on the decline for three years, which is certainly also explained by his change of role, he who converted to an understudy at position 5. But it is becoming more and more obvious: l The former Magic superstar is burned, which led the Lakers not to renew it during the summer. With his CV, the interested party hoped to be able to find a base quickly but it is quite the opposite which occurred.
Dwight Howard goes all out
Today, while the 2022-23 campaign will start in just a few days, D12 is still without a contract, like his ex-teammate Carmelo Anthony. A situation that undermines the morale of the pivot and the latter has therefore launched a final seduction operation with the leaders. Visiting the podcast All The Smoke by Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, he played on pathos in order to push a front office to give him another chance:
I want to play, I love basketball, but at the same time there is no team that really wants to let me play. That’s how I feel since my previous stint at the Lakers. I felt like I did enough to help them win a title to earn a spot on the team and a chance to start and have a lot of playing time, and it didn’t been the case.
So after that, I was like, “Man, I don’t want to have to bust my ass for a whole summer, work out three times a day, go on a crazy diet, do all of this, and then come back to a team and sit on the bench or not really be able to help someone win”. And I wondered if I wanted to give up and do something else or if I wanted to come back and show people that I still have the level.
I really want to enjoy life, my children are growing up and I really want to be there for them, but I want to go to the top, I still have the level, I can still play.
Clearly, it’s retirement or a new contract for the veteran. Unfortunately for him, there is a strong chance that he will not be listened to. His game profile is no longer up to date, and the time has probably come to hang up.
At the time of writing, Dwight Howard has played 1,242 regular season games, for a total of 19,485 points, 14,627 rebounds and more than 2,000 blocks. A priori, we will not see these figures increase in the months to come.