09/02/2026
End of an era. An era that has functionally been over for 4 years.
I’ve never bought into the notion that Dwight should’ve been in the NBA all these years or got “blackballed”. Was he still clinging to life in a basketball sense? Sure. Does that automatically make it a travesty that not one of the 30 teams wanted to bring him onboard as a veteran who still perceivably wants consistent rotation minutes? Absolutely not.
His defense was increasingly matchup-dependent and, much like Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan in recent years, his production became more of a novelty than anything else with each passing year. Except Jordan exhibited the savvy, elder-statesman qualities requisite of a wily locker room veteran far earlier than Howard ever did.
All that aside, 18 years is remarkable longevity. Not to mention back injuries derailed Dwight’s physical prime far more than people ever want to acknowledge. His 2007-2012 run rivals damn near any big man’s peak in NBA history. He is one of the most imposing athletic specimens the league has ever seen and was a game-changing second lineman defensively. Just as Q-Rich dubbed him - a solar eclipse on the back-line.
If you, like me, are on the wrong side of 25 (or the right side in the event you’ve come to embrace the ageing process unlike myself), the 2010 to 2012 Dwight Howard-Andrew Bynum Saga was something to behold. And it was concurrent with the CP3 vs D-Will discourse. Battles for supremacy across the NBA positional spectrum in a phase of hoops I will always hold dear.
After a fleeting two years jousting for the Center title belt (which in all reality Dwight held the entire time), one thing led to another and they were eventually traded for each other. Before we could blink, a bowling accident effectively ended Bynum’s career and set the Sixers’ franchise back multiple years. Meanwhile the Lakers’ found themselves with a similar case of buyers’ remorse. Few four-team trades have ever been a lose-lose-lose-lose. But Vooch to Orlando may have been the only saving grace / redeeming acquisition.
This game was April 8th 2022 (Lakers 120 - 101 Thunder). Dwight: 15 PTS / 8 REB / 3 AST / 5-7 FG / 5-8 FT.