Dwight Howard reveals words from Lakers front office member that left him dejected



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Dwight Howard reveals words from Lakers front office member that left him dejected

Eight-time NBA All-Star center Dwight Howard revealed a Los Angeles Lakers front office member told him last season that he "was not Dwight Howard anymore." Howard, 36, was one of the most dominant players in the NBA during his prime.

Last season, Howard's game evidently declined and Kurt Rambis made it clear to him that he wasn't a superstar anymore. After Rambis delivered those words to Howard, the 2004 first overall pick realized that the days of him being considered a star in the NBA were long gone.

"Kurt Rambis said to me, 'You are not Dwight Howard anymore.' It really hit me like damn. I just gotta shut my mouth and do what I'm asked to do. That was real hard," Howard said on All The Smoke podcast.

Howard is a free agent

After finishing his third stint with the Lakers, Howard has been left without a team.

This offseason, the Lakers didn't want to offer Howard a new deal. But it's not only the Lakers as Howard admits he hasn't received any interest this free agency. At this point, Howard appears to be accepting the fact that he may never again play in the NBA.

“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.'

” Even if Howard never again gets another NBA opportunity, it won't change the fact that he will one day be a Hall of Famer. Howard is an NBA champion, an eight-time All-Star, five times was named to the All-NBA First Team, and three times won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.