Dwight Howard officially announces retirement from basketball

Dwight Howard is done with basketball. For real this time.

Howard announced his retirement on Thursday, confirming he is walking away from the game to focus on his family and give back to communities. He spent his last NBA season with the Lakers in 2021-22 before heading to the Taiwanese League to play for the Taoyuan Leopards. He was not ready to call it a career then. He is now.

Dwight Howard Officially Retires from Basketball

Woke up today on the 12th of this month and I figured it’s time to move on from Superman! Im no super human… I cry ! I struggle! I feel like everyone else. Through the lies, the media and the hate I still show love and Smile Through The Storm.

But now Im taking off the cape and… pic.twitter.com/SyZQAcAeLq

— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) March 12, 2026

Dwight Howard’s career speaks for itself.

Eight All-Star appearances. Eight All-NBA nominations. Three Defensive Player of the Year awards. Five All-Defensive team honors. One NBA championship with the Lakers during the 2020 bubble season.

Last April, Dwight Howard was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, which is the proper ending for a guy who was one of the most dominant big men of his era.

His best years came in Orlando, where the Magic selected him first overall in the 2004 draft and he turned himself into the most feared interior presence in the league.

The superhero era. The dunk contest. The backboard-shattering performances that made him a household name. Everything after Orlando was chasing something he had already built.

He made stops everywhere on his way out. Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington, back to LA. The Sixers got 69 games out of him, during which he averaged 8.4 rebounds, 7.0 points, and 0.9 blocks.

Not exactly a defining chapter but it happened.

Dwight Howard also announced he will travel to a different city on the 12th of each month to perform random acts of kindness for strangers. That is very Dwight Howard and honestly it is hard not to appreciate it.

Hell of a career. One of one.

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