The Dancing With The Stars show went wild last week with the ‘Halloween Nightmares Night’. This time, former Los Angeles Lakers player Dwight Howard made a tremendous comeback, scoring his first 10 of the Season, despite initial criticisms of his performance. While the ongoing presidential elections have put a stall on the show for this week, the former NBA champion looks back on his journey with on-stage partner Daniella Karagach. 

Dwight’s latest Instagram post is the highlight. Remember their contemporary performance of the ‘Ring Around the Rosie‘ by District 78? The way Dwight ‘The Boogeyman‘ took Karagach by her legs and made a spin must have been breathtaking! Here in this post, Howard shares the evolution of this step to point out something. 

“No DWTS today but I can’t wait to show you guys what me & @daniellakaragach have in store for next week😮‍💨“ wrote the 8xNBA All-Star while sharing a video. At first, it shows Dwight Howard and Karagach in practice while doing rudimentary spins with limited movements alongside a caption: “Went from this 😳”, to be overlapped with the on-stage performance that said: “To this😨.” The evolution that turns out to be jaw-dropping also displays the true extent of his DWTS growth with Daniella Karagach. Care to join this journey? 

In hindsight, the duo did considerably well in the first two weeks while clinking to the second-highest score. However, the third week, which was a two-night week, brought the first of their setbacks. They presented a Cha Cha for the ‘Soul Train Night‘ only to get 23 points, the second lowest. Not only that, judges including Inaba who commented critiqued him: “That was hard to watch.“ 

The ‘Hair Metal Night‘ that followed relieved them with the judges commenting on a comeback with 29 points and got them safe for the fourth week of ‘Dedication Night’. Having said that, the pair received immense backlash online for the same. Even in the following weeks, they barely survived with the least points until the seventh night. Their drastic comeback is worth exploring. 

The path of redemption for Dwight Howard

This one here is reminiscent of the 30th DWTS season when Karagach made a comeback with Iman Shumpert, the ex-Cavs champion, on a horror night like this. However, the challenge was unique, especially given the height difference of 5” between Howard and Shumpert. Flowers to the ingenuity of Karagach it was smartly dealt with, as she stated in an interview with the Woman’s World Magazine: “We did tricks that you probably can’t do with someone shorter.”

The spin, as shared in Howard’s video, is the perfect example. It is impossible for a shorter person to hold a 5’5” Karagach to make that spin. So they began by playing smart. Then there is another thought process that the 3xDPOY himself reveals.

This has to do with positive thoughts. As he puts it: “We’ve been talking all week about the power of words and how manifestation is real.” In the same interview, Dwight Howard speaks interestingly about the possibility of this being their best performance. We couldn’t complain if someone believes such a thought process as it turns out to be spectacular.

With this growth trajectory, it is hard to ignore the possibility of another Mirrorball Trophy right through the vision of Daniella Karagach. Until next week, let this thought grow in you.