Here’s the ‘deciding factor’ that made Dwight Howard sign with the 76ers over the Lakers

Published by

Robert Marvi

November 21, 2020 2:29 am

On Friday, it was reported that Dwight Howard chose to leave the Los Angeles Lakers and join the Philadelphia 76ers as a free agent.

It appears he made that decision in order to get more playing time.

After years of being dogged with a negative reputation, Howard turned around his legacy with L.A. during the 2019-20 season.

He played a pivotal role off the bench for the reigning NBA champs by boxing out, rebounding, protecting the rim and finishing strong in the paint.

However, he played just 18.9 minutes a game this past season, which was a career-low.

It’s an open question as to whether Howard will actually get more minutes with the Sixers. The team possesses Joel Embiid, a superstar center who saw the court for 29.5 minutes a game in the 2019-20 campaign.

On the other hand, Embiid is injury prone, and should he get hurt again this coming season, the Sixers will have to count on Howard more than the Lakers did.

Robert Marvi

Robert is a native of Santa Monica, Calif., and a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has been an avid NBA fan since he was a little kid in the mid '90s and fell in love with the Nick Van Exel-led Lakers teams. He truly cherishes the Kobe Bryant-era of Lakers basketball and the five world championships that came with it, and is looking forward to the team's next NBA title.