Dwight Howard was a big reason the Lakers won the championship in the bubble back in 2020. But despite finishing ninth in Sixth Man of the Year voting that season, the eight-time All-Star was sent packing the next year.
Many have wondered why Howard wasn’t brought back to help defend the Lakers’ title in ’21, and according to the former All-NBA big man it’s because of something he said to LeBron James.
On a recent episode of his “Above the Rim with DH12” podcast, Dwight claimed that calling the King a “b—-” landed him a one-way ticket out of Hollywood.
Dwight Howard reveals that he was KICKED OFF the Lakers after he told Lebron James to get back on Defense and “Stop acting like a B*TCH” 💀😭
pic.twitter.com/cAj8fqdoTb— Slime🐍 (@ItsKingSlime) March 10, 2025
“I said that [too], and I got kicked off the Lakers,” Howard told Mario Chalmers, who said something similar to James during his time with the Heat. “So, I know how you feel.”
“You can’t say that,” Howard continued. “I said that one time, and I was off the team. … It was after we won the championship, man. It happened on defense. I was like, ‘Yo, you gotta get back.’ And [LeBron] got mad because I said something. And I was like, ‘Yo, stop acting like a b—-, man.'”
Howard went on to suit up for the Philadelphia 76ers the following season where he appeared in 69 games and made a similar impact for Doc Rivers and the Atlantic Division champs.
Eventually he would get another opportunity to play with LeBron in LA the season after that, but it would end up being his final year in the Association.
Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images
Howard played the 2022-23 season overseas with the Taoyuan Leopards in the TPBL and has yet to officially announce his retirement despite not touching an NBA floor in over 1,000 days.
Do you think there’s any truth to “LeGM” getting rid of Dwight over his comments?
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