Dwight Howard leaves NBA for Taiwan

Dwight Howard (Scott Mecum, Wikimedia Commons)

According to the Associated Press on Tuesday, eight-time NBA All-Star Dwight Howard of Atlanta, Georgia is leaving the National Basketball Association altogether, to play professional basketball in Taiwan. On Tuesday, he came to terms with the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League.

The T1 League currently has six teams. The Leopards are joined by the Kaohsiung Aquas, the New Taipei CTBC DEA, the Taichung Suns, the Tainan TSG GhostHawks, and the TaiwanBeer HeroBears. The Aquas are the defending champions as they swept the Suns three games to none in a best-of-five series a season ago. The series was initially to be a best-of-seven series, but was reduced to a best-of-five series because of Coronavirus.

Howard is 36 years old. He played in the NBA from 2004 to 2022 with the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, and Philadelphia 76ers. He was an all-star for six straight years with the Magic from 2007 to 2012, and then one time each with the Lakers (2013), and the Rockets (2014).

In 2009-10, Howard led the NBA in shooting percentage (.612), rebounds per game (13.2), and blocks per game (2.8) as a member of Orlando. He also led the NBA in rebounds per game with 14.2 in 2007-08, 13.8 in 2008-09, 13.2 in 2009-10, 14.5 in 2011-12, and 12.4 in 2012-13, and blocks per game with 2.9 in 2008-09 while with the Magic.

Howard, a center was the first overall pick with the Magic in the 2004 NBA Draft. For three straight seasons from 2009 to 2011, he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the only player in NBA history to win the award three straight years. In 2020, Howard won the NBA Finals with the Lakers. After joining the 76ers for the 2020-21 NBA season, Howard returned to the Lakers in 2021-22 and averaged 6.2 points per game.

How long will Howard last in Taiwan? Is he done playing in the NBA? Tell us what you think in the comments below.