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Former NBA superstar center and Hall of Famer Dwight Howard has retired from professional basketball. After a brief two-game stint with Black Fortress Tbilisi, the Georgian team announced that Howard had played the final game of his career, with the contest coming on Saturday in Black Fortress's 82-89 loss to TSU. In that game, Howard scored 10 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and dished out 2 assists.
Former longtime NBA star Dwight Howard has made his official European debut in Georgia. In his first game in the Georgian Superleague, his team, Black Fortress Tbilisi, fell 70-75 against Iverioni. Meanwhile, Howard had a solid debut for his new team, finishing with 12 points (5/8 FG), 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 17 minutes of action.
Trevor Ariza on Dwight Howard: It surprised me that he wasn't included in the top 75 NBA player list. He won three straight defensive player of the year. He controlled the paint his whole healthy career, offensively and defensively. How many people have done that? Kareem, Shaq, who else controlled the paint like that? His work ethic was out of this world. He'll be in the weight room lifting an hour and a half before practice. Then he'll practice. Then he'll stay two, three, four hours after practice just shooting, working on the things that he wanted to work on to get better at. So he's somebody that always worked on his game and just seeing that mentality and work ethic, you would think it should pay off with the accolades that come with it at the end of it. But yeah, he definitely should have been in the top 75 player list. Yeah, definitely. Tony Allen: Shout out Dwight, man. I feel like Dwight gets a lot of slander, a lot of hate, too, for sure.
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The home, listed at the beginning of September, comes with a dozen bedrooms, more than 20 bathrooms and a $14.5 million price tag. It's located just off Suwanee Dam Road, on Suwanee's northwest side and about 45 minutes northeast of Atlanta. Howard purchased the home a decade ago for just shy of $9 million, property records show.
Dwight Howard is continuing his unusual global basketball journey. The former NBA draft's number one overall pick and one of the best centers of his generation will play in Georgia starting in October, bolstering the Black Fortress Tbilisi squad. Howard announced his arrival via a social media post, using a play on words related to his birthplace. He was born in the U.S. state of Georgia, but his new stint will take him to the country of the same name, located on the border of Europe and Asia.
"Georgia, here I come! I don't mean my hometown of Atlanta. Just wait for October, when we'll set the court on fire with Black Fortress," Howard said. Details regarding the contract duration and salary have not yet been disclosed. Black Fortress achieved promotion to top tier of Georgia's basketball after winning the title as champions of the nation's second tier. It is certain, however, that the 40-year-old center is not yet ready to step away from the court for good.
What is the story behind the photo with you, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard? It was early January in that 2012-13 season. The Lakers had just lost three games in a row, and then you guys posed for this photo. Kobe put it on his social media. How did it happen? Mike D'Antoni: There were rumors that they had really gotten into it and they hated each other, and this was not going to work. I was on the training table rehabbing my knee and Kobe was there, and Dwight and I go, "Can you believe this?" I don't know how, but we just started talking and all of a sudden [the photo was shot].
Was it Kobe's idea? Because obviously he posted it. Mike D'Antoni: I think it was. I think it was Kobe. But it wasn't an idea that, "Oh, let's pose for a picture and get this out." But it was more of a joke. And I guess maybe the trainer [Gary Vitti] had a phone camera or something. Gary might have said something like, "You guys stand there and look like you're fighting, which everybody thinks you're doing every day, anyway." Something like that. It was off the cuff. It wasn't planned. It was more or less just us responding with, "It's not as bad as people say it is."
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James becomes just the second player in Lakers history to leave the purple-and-gold franchise as a reigning All-Star, joining Dwight Howard on the list. Considering the Lakers have been a franchise since 1948-49, for them to have lost just two All-Stars in free agency the following offseason is almost hard to believe.
