Los Angeles Lakers: Evaluating what went wrong for Dwight Howard on last several teams

The numbers suggest Dwight Howard can still contribute to an NBA contender, such as the Los Angeles Lakers, but he was cut in each of his last three stops. Here is an in-depth look at what went wrong on those teams.

A decade ago, in his prime, before he joined the Los Angeles Lakers, Dwight Howard probably saw the end of his career going quite a bit differently. He might have envisioned a farewell tour like some of the other legendary greats got before him.

However, his career has not gone according to plan since then, and Howard has had one of the worst falls from grace of a superstar in recent memory. His farewell tour has been going to a new team each season and saying farewell before his stint even got started.

This year with the Lakers could indeed be his last chance for a new beginning, this time with an old team. But it is still hard to take Howard seriously because he has said he was excited for a fresh start at each of his last stops as well.

Yet this time around with the Lakers does seem different in one big way. While playing for the last few franchises, he was still expected to somehow be the dominant player he was when he was in Orlando, but now the expectations for him could not be any lower.

His biggest downfall in those places was his inability to accept that he was no longer the player that was nicknamed Superman and carried a team to the finals. He was not happy with a diminished role, playing on non-contending teams. That lead to friction from both him and the teams he played for. He wanted the ball, but he was no longer getting it.

But now, there is nowhere to go but up, and even Dwight has recognized that he can not have the same attitude this season. If he did not have that epiphany, it is unlikely he would have accepted a one-year, non-guaranteed deal this summer.

The good thing for the Lakers’ faithful is that Dwight is already proving that this season, he is ready to rewrite the narrative that has been building around him the past few seasons. He came into training camp in seemingly the best shape of his career and he put up some decent numbers in preseason action.

In the Lakers’ fourth preseason game, Howard gave a glimpse of what he could be this season, finishing the game with 12 points, 13 rebounds, and an impressive 6 assists. Surprisingly Howard’s playmaking ability is what stood out about his performance, and he has been solid in all areas of his game the whole preseason averaging 8.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game, and lead the team in rebounds while averaging only 18 minutes per game.

In the regular season, his success has continued. In the third game of the season against his former team, the Charlotte Hornets, he had a statement game. He had a huge double-double off the bench with 16 points and 10 rebounds and might have made the Hornets regret letting him walk just a couple seasons ago.

So how has he been kicked off of three teams in as many seasons? Let’s take an in-depth look at each of his previous three stops.