Dwight Howard says he might retire because he feels there are no teams that ‘really wanna allow me to play’

Veteran NBA big man Dwight Howard is currently a free agent, and he recently revealed that he’s contemplating retirement from the league.

While Howard still wants to play, he feels like there are “no teams that really wanna allow me to play.”

“I wanna play, but at the same there’s like no teams that really wanna allow me to play,” Howard said. “That’s how I’ve been feeling from the last situation with the [Los Angeles] Lakers. I felt like I did enough to help them win a championship to really deserve a spot on the team and a chance to start and get big minutes, and it didn’t happen. So after that I was like, ‘Man, I don’t wanna have to bust my a– for another whole summer, train three-a-days, go on a crazy diet, do all this s— and then get back to a team and sit on the bench or not get to really help somebody win.’ … And it’s been like, ‘Damn, do I wanna just call it quits and do some other stuff or go back at it and show people I still got it.'”

Of course, Howard spent the 2021-22 season with the Lakers, which was his third stint with the team.

Howard’s first stint with Los Angeles lasted one season and came while he was still in his prime. It was the 2012-13 season, and he averaged 17.1 points, 12.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game while earning an All-Star selection.

Howard’s second stint with the Lakers also lasted just one season, and it came during the 2019-20 campaign. Although the eight-time All-Star’s best seasons were behind him by then, the 2019-20 season was certainly a special season for him, as he earned his first NBA title.

In the regular season, he averaged 7.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while hitting a whopping 72.9 percent of his shots from the field. However, he got just 18.9 minutes of action per game, marking a career-low for him at that point in time.

In the 2021-22 campaign with the Lakers, he averaged 6.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting 61.2 percent from the field. He played 16.2 minutes per game, which marked a new career-low.

Howard has talked about the idea of joining the WWE, and if his NBA career does come to an end soon, it seems like that could be his next chapter.

The 36-year-old has certainly accomplished a lot during his time in the NBA. In addition to being an eight-time All-Star and one-time NBA champion, he’s a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and been named to five-time All-Defensive teams and eight All-NBA teams.

He holds career averages of 15.7 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game.