After spending last season with the Los Angeles Lakers, Dwight Howard took his talents to the T1 League in Taiwan a few months ago.
Fellow former Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal took Howard to task for having an underwhelming season while playing overseas.
“They (Dwight Howard’s team) have a losing record,” said O’Neal. “Somebody sent me they have a losing record. I ain’t losing to nobody in Taiwan how about that. How do you have a losing record in Taiwan? Come on now. You can’t have no losing record in Taiwan.”
Howard was with the Purple and Gold during the 2012-13 season. He put up solid stats that year, but his Lakers struggled with a gnarly rash of injuries and got swept in the first round of the playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs.
He left that summer to join the Houston Rockets, and from there, his career spiraled downward, as he would start hopping from team to team.
It was a humbled Howard who returned to the Lakers in the summer of 2019 to play a diminished role off the bench, and many thought his ego wouldn’t be able to handle such a demotion.
But he played his role well while showing a positive attitude as the Purple and Gold won the NBA championship during the 2019-20 season.
Last year, Howard started to show definite signs of decline in L.A., as he was still somewhat effective on the boards, but he was no longer a shot-blocking or defensive presence as he was during the team’s championship season.
He was hoping to remain in the NBA for one more season, but when there was no interest, he showed some desire to launch a second career as a WWE fighter.
Instead, he decided to continue playing basketball by heading to Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, knee problems limited his availability for the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League.
Still, Howard will likely end up alongside O’Neal in the Hall of Fame, and the two can mend fences as fellow owners of championship rings while with the Lakers.
