Which Team Does Dwight Howard Play For? Exploring Ex-NBA Star’s Basketball Career

Dwight Howard may have bid goodbye to the NBA, but there is still basketball left in him. Notably, the 8x All-Star played his last game in the league with the LA Lakers in 2022 and was part of the 2020 championship team. Since then, there have been multiple instances where his desire to return to the league has been reflected. Although he failed to return to the NBA, the 38-year-old is in no mood to give up on his basketball career.

Acting on the same lines, on March 1, 2024, Howard signed with the Mets de Guaynabo. Notably, Mets de Guaynabo competes in Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) — a professional basketball league in Puerto Rico. To better understand the 2020 NBA champ’s journey from NBA to BSN, let’s dive deeper into his basketball career.

Dwight Howard’s tremendous start with Orlando Magic

Said to be inspired by Kevin Garnett, the 6’10” player gave up college and declared his intentions for the 2004 NBA draft. His built and high school record favored him as the Orlando team drafted him into the NBA in 2004. It is said that Magic saw Howard as their next young Shaquille O’Neal.

And D-12 met expectations in terms of performance from the very start. So much so that for all the seasons he played for Orlando, he averaged double-doubles in every season. These stats continued for the first 14 seasons of his career. However, things took shape for him after his mentor, Brian Hill, decided that the 6’10” player should play as center.

By 2007-08, Dwight Howard was not only averaging double-doubles but more than 2 blocks per game in a season. He maintained these figures for 6 consecutive seasons. In fact, he even led his team to the NBA finals in 2009, losing the championship to the Lakers but securing himself the Defensive Player of the Year award. Claiming the award for the next two consecutive seasons, he has been the only NBA star ever to win the DPOY award three times in a row.

Apart from his 3x DPOY, Howard also secured the position of rebounding leader 5 times, and the position of blocks leader 2 times. This makes it clear that in terms of awards and accolades, D-12 earned a lot with Orlando Magic. But he probably wanted more from his basketball career, which explains the reports of Dwight Howard beginning to agitate his way out of the franchise back in 2011.

The reports stated Howard was having issues with the then-Magic coach, Stan Van Gundy. Apart from this, the rumors of the Brooklyn Nets prepping a big offer for Howard were also making rounds. This explains why the 8x All-Star wanted to move to the Nets, but contrarily, the Magic traded him to the Lakers in August 2012.

Howard’s departure from Orlando: Beginning of the end in NBA?

During his first season in the Lakers, Howard still averaged a double-double and more than 2 blocks per game in the season so the stats would not reflect the hardships he was facing in adapting to Kobe Bryant’s way of running the team. This led to the 8x All-Star moving to Houston Rockets, and playing 4 seasons (2013-2016) with the team.

The beginning of season 2014-15 in the Rockets brought a right knee strain, as a result of which Dwight Howard played only 41 games in the regular season, but he played through a torn MCL and meniscus during the postseason. Only one more season with the Rockets was left in his future, after which Howard moved to Atlanta with the Hawks, and then the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards. Notably, he only played 9 games for the Wizards because of back surgery in 2012.

The Lakers picked Howard after his stint with the Wizards ended, but for the first time in his career, the ex-NBA player did not average a double-double in a season except for his 9-game season with the Wizards. He managed to win his career’s first NBA championship with the Lakers, but the franchise still did not renew his contract. Subsequently, he played his second last NBA season with the Philadelphia 76ers and one last season with the Lakers in 2022. Howard was hoping for his contract to be renewed, but contrarily, no team signed Dwight Howard ever again. And there ended his NBA dreams.

However, this did not stop him from continuing his basketball career as he played season 2022-23 for Taoyuan Leopards in Taiwan’s T-1 league. The 6’10” star even won some awards and accolades over there. And now that he has signed with Mets de Guaynabo, it does not seem that he is stopping anytime soon.