TIMELINE: A look at the turbulent career of Dwight Howard

After 16 years, Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard has realized his ultimate dream of being an NBA champion.

In an emotional Instagram live video following the Lakers’ ouster of the ultimate underdog Miami Heat in Game 6 of the finals, Howard can be seen fighting back tears while holding the Larry O’Brien trophy as he hoarsely said an inspirational message.

“Don’t ever give up on your dreams, you can f—ing do it!” he said. “I swear to God, don’t ever give up on yourself. Don’t ever give up on yourself no matter how hard it gets. You’re already a champion.”

About a decade ago, the image of Howard giving out inspirational messages as a beloved champion role player seems practically impossible to comprehend, and for good reason.

Just a few years ago, fans were expecting – some even with a sense of eagerness – for the former superstar’s career to fall off a cliff.

How did it get to that point, and why has been his resurgence been such an inspiring and satisfying tale to those who have followed him throughout the years?

Superman 2.0

Back in the 2004 NBA Draft, the Orlando Magic took a chance and selected Howard, a raw, but promising big man straight out of high school as the first overall pick, ahead of future Rookie of the Year and four-year college graduate Emeka Okafor.

Although Okafor averaged a double-double with healthy block totals in his first 5 seasons in the NBA, it was Howard who evolved exponentially on both ends of the floor as he became the second coming of the legendary Shaquille O’Neal.

While O’Neal vehemently contested the new holder of the “Superman” nickname, it was clear that Howard had a semblance of the same borderline unfair dominance O’Neal had in his prime, as he was voted into the All-Star team in just his third year in the league.

With great power, comes great… ego

Howard continued destroying the entire league in the paint as the years went on, and he culminated that run by helping the Magic reach the 2009 NBA Finals against the favored Lakers, who just came off a disappointing finals run against the Boston Celtics the prior year.

Not only did Howard deny the world an anticipated finals matchup between Kobe Bryant and Cleveland’s LeBron James, he also proved that he was a surefire superstar ready to take over the league.

As the story goes, the Lakers were simply too experienced for the up-and-coming Magic as they won the 2009 championship in 6 games, and repeated the following year with a revenge tour against their Celtic rivals.

While Howard continue racking up the individual accolades, including 3 straight Defensive Player of the Year awards from 2009 to 2011, he grew increasingly frustrated with his team’s inability to inch closer to an NBA title.

As his feud with his head coach Stan Van Gundy reached a boiling point, the Magic were left with no choice but to trade their franchise star, and he landed in a place where winning a title was the only option: the Los Angeles Lakers.

With a starting lineup of Bryant, Howard, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, and Steve Nash, the Lakers were an obvious pick to win the 2013 title. Soon enough, however, their dream season quickly spiraled to a prolonged nightmare.

As Howard butted heads with Bryant while the aging Gasol and Nash were sidelined with injuries, the Lakers were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual finalist San Antonio Spurs.

Unwanted, unloved

As his contract expired at the end of a disastrous first year with the Lakers, Howard was more than ready to flee the bright lights of Hollywood.

The 6-foot-10 big man took his talents halfway across the country and settled with James Harden and the Houston Rockets after rejecting a five-year, $118 million max contract offer from the Lakers.

Although Howard actually played out the entirety of his four-year contract with Houston despite battling injuries, the Rockets were never able to get over the hump, even though they reached as far as the Western Conference Finals in 2015.

As Harden grew to an MVP-caliber, but more ball-dominant player, Howard decided to go back to his roots and signed with his hometown Atlanta Hawks for 3 years and a $70 million price tag.

After another first-round playoff exit where the often-injured Howard averaged just 8.0 points and 10.7 rebounds, the Hawks immediately gave up and traded him to the Charlotte Hornets.

The Hornets decided to give Howard a shot, and he repaid them with his best play since his Magic days. He even had arguably his best game ever as he recorded an eye-popping 32-point, 30-rebound double-double in a Hornets uniform.

Less than a year after being traded from the Hawks, however, the Hornets also moved on quickly from the star-turned-journeyman center as they shipped him to the Brooklyn Nets in 2018.

Unlike the Hawks and Hornets, the Nets were wary of Howard’s well-documented chemistry issues, and they immediately waived him before he can play a single game in Brooklyn.

Howard then failed to repay the trust of the Washington Wizards as he was only able to play 9 games before being sidelined due to recurring back issues.

Understandably enough, the Wizards had to free themselves from Howard’s contract, and they traded him to the Memphis Grizzlies, who promptly waived him yet again.

Just like that, Howard made his way to 5 teams in 3 years, and accomplished absolutely nothing. At this point, it looked like what once was a promising career was all but over.

Reborn for redemption

In an interesting turn of events, the Lakers found themselves in need of a backup center following an unfortunate ACL tear by DeMarcus Cousins in practice.

With few interesting options left on the free agent market, the team headed down an unlikely path and reunited with Howard, signing him to a non-guaranteed, veteran’s minimum deal.

After probably realizing that this was his last shot at redemption, Howard himself included the non-guaranteed clause in his contract, which meant that the Lakers could cut him from the team at any time without suffering financial repercussions.

A low-maintenance Howard quickly surprised everyone, including his harshest critics, as he smoothly transitioned from a ball-dominant post presence who started all but one of his first 1,044 games, to an energy guy coming off the bench.

Even in his best games, he didn’t stagnate the flow of the offense with his post-up plays and instead just scored off quick pick-and-rolls and putback dunks.

As the Lakers went deep into the playoffs thanks to the MVP-level play of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Howard continued to stay out of the spotlight, and even got practically deactivated when they played the super small-ball Rockets in the second round.

Still, Howard played well whenever his number was called, as evidenced by his interior defense against the Denver Nuggets with Nikola Jokic in the conference finals.

Shortly afterwards, he was back in the NBA Finals in the bubble in Orlando, where it all started for his NBA career.

This time, however, his hard work, both physically and mentally, finally paid off, as he completed his redemption tour with his first NBA championship.

He reached the top not as Superman, but rather, just as a man – a man who checked his ego, took care of his aging body, and accepted whatever role was there for him.

Eight years after his fallout in Los Angeles, he worked hard to win the city’s trust back. The man once known for having his head in the clouds stayed grounded this time, and in doing so, he finally became the hero they needed all along. – Rappler.com