Dwight Howard teases he’ll be joining LA, but in a new role

Ex Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard he joked about rejoining the team in a special role for the organization. Howard was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September, cementing his legacy as one of the game’s best centers, helping the Lakers to their 17th championship in 2020.

Howard attended the Lakers’ game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night, where he jokingly announced, his new roleaccording to Rachel Nichols of Fox Sports 1.

“I’m coming to the Lakers, baby. They just gave me a new contract,” Howard said. “I’ll be their new streamer/content creator. Let’s go.”

After Dwight Howard’s championship season with the Lakers, his second stint with the Lakers, he played with the Philadelphia 76ers the following season before returning to Los Angeles in 2021-22, and is now joking about his new role. Howard played one season in Taiwan in 2022-23. He recently joined Ice Cube’s Big3 3-on-3 basketball league in 2025.

The eight-time All-Star and three-time Defensive Player of the Year, who also won five rebounding titles, finished his NBA career averaging 15.7 points on 58.7% shooting, 11.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.

Shaq gives Dwight Howard his Hall of Fame flowers

Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal gave Dwight Howard his flowers ahead of this year’s induction into the Hall of Fame. While the Hall of Fame analyst-turned-NBA center has been tough on Howard for years, O’Neal addressed the common the respect the two have for each other, according to NBATV’s Dennis Scott.

“It’s big for him, it’s big for his family, it’s big for the Big Man Alliance, of which I’m the current president. It’s big, I’m happy for him,” O’Neill said. “It’s not that we had a problem. You know my management style, I learned it from you. It’s hard for me to motivate guys. Some people can handle it, some people can’t. But when we met I told him it was never hard feelings, I just did it to make him angry. Whenever I made him angry, he played well.”

The two Hall of Fame centers share similar experience as the Magic’s first overall picks, separated by 12 years. Both led the Magic to NBA Finals appearances: Shaq in 1995 after being drafted in 1992 and Howard in 2009 after entering the league in 2004 before winning their first titles with the Lakers. O’Neal led the Lakers to a triple-double in 2002 before winning an additional title with the Heat in 2006.