Washington Wizards
Dwight’s stay in Washington was definitely unlike his previous two teams mentioned above. It was different, mainly because he did not get the chance to prove himself on the court. Back surgery at the beginning of the season and a hamstring issue, later on, held him out pretty much the entire year.
Howard only played in nine games all season for the Wizards, but apparently they saw enough to know they did not want him on the roster for the upcoming year. This offseason they shipped him off without batting an eye for C.J. Miles, and the Grizzlies decided to waive him after that, leading him to sign with Los Angeles.
Maybe they thought Howard was washed up because, in the games that he did play, he put up the worst numbers of his entire career. For the first time in his career, his season averages for points and rebounds dipped below a double-double.
Even though he hardly played in any games, Howard still somehow managed to find negative attention throughout the season off the court in Washington. According to an article in the Washington Post, in November of last year, an arena worker for the Wizards reportedly was talking trash to Howard after he tried to get in extra practice after a game.
That same article also mentioned another unrelated Howard fiasco, that involved a man that claimed Dwight had threatened him for revealing the details of their relationship that claimed to be intimate. Howard has since emphatically denied the claim, but it only added to the negative public persona surrounding him and sparked tons of negative memes on social media.
Dwight mentioned in his opening interview with the Wizards that he wanted to retire there, saying,
"“Today and for the rest of my career here, which I plan to be here until I retire, it’s about this team. It’s about us winning.”"
Well, they did not win very many games with him in the lineup, and it is obvious now that his vision did not turn into a reality. But lucky for Lakers fans, he did not end his career in Washington.
Taking his prior teams’ past issues with him into account, there is still time to right the ship that is Dwight Howard’s career. The best way for him to do that is to win a ship, or in other words help bring a title to Los Angeles, like he was supposed to do in 2013.
Despite that past, the preseason has proved that if he plays well, then the fans will come around and root for him. Even head coach Frank Vogel has come out and said this offseason that Howard has done everything right and has “been all business,” but that has been the story before.
It seems like only time will tell if Dwight will continue to play well and will play out the terms of his non guaranteed contract. But if he continues to accept his new role in Los Angeles, that seems highly likely.