After a rocky but excellent 18-year career in the NBA, which included three separate one-season stints with the Los Angeles Lakers, Dwight Howard is going into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
He won three straight Defensive Player of the Year awards, made eight All-Star games, led the league in rebounding five times and, of course, won an NBA championship in 2020 with the Lakers. Even though he became a reviled figure among Lakers fans following his first departure in 2013, he became largely beloved by that same fan base by the time he got his ring.
Howard posted on X (formerly Twitter) following the news that he had been inducted into the Hall of Fame that he wanted Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to walk him out during his induction ceremony. O’Neal, the legendary Lakers center, said he will do just that.
It seems odd for O’Neal, who has often criticized Howard over the years, to walk Howard out during the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. But it should be an interesting and emotional moment for the former NBA star big man who was once the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy.
