Getty Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics
Throughout the off-season, both fans and media alike were calling for the Boston Celtics to extend a veteran minimum contract offer to Dwight Howard.
Of course, that contract offer never materialized and Howard remained a free agent. However, on November 7, Howard posted a message on the Taoyuan Leopards Instagram page announcing that he will be joining the team for their upcoming season and is excited to get started.
Dwight Howard announces he will be signing with the Taoyuan Leopards in Taiwan
“Taiwan, this is Dwight Howard aka Superman. I am so, so excited, and I can’t wait to touch down in Taiwan and start playing for the Taoyuan City Leopards. This is my third time in Taiwan, I haven’t been here in so long. I can’t wait to see the fans, eat the food, and have the best time ever, and bring a championship to Taoyuan City,” Howard said.
By signing with the Taoyuan City Leopards, Howard has essentially forgone hope of joining an NBA roster this season.
Executive Believes Celtics Should Have Added Howard
Recently, Heavy on Sports’ NBA Insider, Sean Deveney, spoke with an Eastern Conference Executive under the condition of anonymity. During the conversation, the executive noted how they believed Howard could be a solid addition to the Celtics’ bench rotation and would help solve some of their interior defensive issues.
.@DwightHoward says he is dead serious about joining @WWE in future telling @TMZ, “Of course, no doubt.”
“Dwight Howard does (make sense for Boston). They went and got Blake Griffin because they wanted someone who could fill in at the 4 or the 5 but the fact is, they need more help at the 5 right now. They need a rebounder and a paint defender. They’re trying Luke Kornet more and that is good for them but he is not a presence off the bench. Whatever you want to say about Dwight Howard at this point, he is still a presence. You are not going to beat him to rebounds and you will think twice about driving to the paint against him. That’s what they need there,” The executive said.
Howard averaged 6.2 points and 5.9 rebounds in 16.9 minutes for the Los Angeles Lakers last season and proved that he could still play a role with an NBA team if given the opportunity, however, it would seem that Howard wanted to continue playing regularly, and decided to take the opportunity to move abroad when it arose.
Howard Could Join WWE in The Future
On September 19 with Sporting News, Triple H discussed a potential career switch for Howard, noting that the future Hall of Famer would only have to pick up the phone if he decided he wanted to become a WWE Superstar – as long as he was willing to take the job seriously.
“The ball’s in his court…He came by our tryouts in Nashville, was incredibly entertaining, jumping in promos by himself and then with others, and was incredibly entertaining….So, when he says, ‘Hey, I want to give this a shot,’ he’s got my phone number…All he’s got to do is call me, and we’ll see what can happen,” Triple H said.
Clearly, Howard is quite done with playing basketball yet, but given his outgoing personality, high-level athletic ability, and willingness to play a character, we could still see the 2020 NBA champion occupying the squared circle in the coming years.