After capturing a unique championship in the Orlando Bubble in 2020, the Los Angeles Lakers made a series of decisions that, in hindsight, haven’t really gone their way. Of course, it’s easy to play general after the battle, but when you look at how Kentavious Caldwell-Pope went to the Denver Nuggets, where he became a key piece in their first-ever franchise title, and Alex Caruso two years later with the Oklahoma City Thunder, you see the point.
Interestingly, that roster alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis also had two other big names, who at that stage of their careers were far from their peaks, but still provided a valuable veteran presence that helped bring the title back to L.A.
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We’re talking about Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard, once fierce rivals of the Lakers during the Kobe Bryant era. Howard’s exit at the time caused the most controversy, and he recently reflected on that chapter of his career.
“I was told that there was a contract and then I was so happy that I heard I was coming back, I tweeted about it and my agent called me back and said, ‘Hey. The Lakers took the contract off the table. You gotta take that tweet down.’ I was like, ‘Damn! Why would they do that?’ And it really kind of messed with me because I’m like, ‘I came in with the right attitude towards winning, not worried about points, rebounds… just worried about us winning another championship…'” D12 said to Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson.
“So, but I was highly upset that I didn’t get a chance to compete for a title defense because I believed that we had a special team and we had a window where we could’ve won and been to the NBA Finals multiple years,” Howard added.
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Dwight’s crucial role in the WCF against Nikola Jokic
Howard has a point, because he was indeed fully committed to the team. For a player of his caliber, that’s never easy. He completely let AD dominate under the rim and played his role, while being a phenomenal defensive presence, rim protector and rebounding machine. He understood that this was his only way to finally get his first career title and restore some of the reputation lost during his first stint with the Lakers.
But, as mentioned earlier, the Lakers entered a stretch of questionable decisions. Some will argue that Howard was a marginal player in that Finals series against the Heat, averaging just 2.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, but it’s important to remember his crucial role in the WCF against Nikola Jokic. Together with Davis, Howard helped limit the Serbian superstar, which was key to reaching the Finals.
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In fact, in that Denver series, he was much more productive than in the Finals, averaging 8.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and shooting an incredible 78.9 percent from the field. And even though Jokic still played well, his numbers in that matchup were below his playoff standards, putting up only 21.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
D12 set his ego aside
That’s why Howard was such a key piece of that Lakers team; he set his ego aside and was used specifically in matchups that Frank Vogel needed. This isn’t the first time D12 has gone public about his regrets, as he once compared his Lakers exit to breaking up with an ex-girlfriend.
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“It’s been crazy, but it’s just for some reason we just clicked. I don’t know, you could have a little (ex) girlfriend or whatever, and it’s just, y’all done been together, y’all done broke up. You done tried other girlfriends, but it’s just some type of connection y’all got. That’s how we feel about the Lakers. Man, it’s just something that we got this connection,” the retired center once said. “I do love the Lakers, man. We had the championship run there, and I wish we would’ve had a chance to keep going because that was the squad right there. We had everything.”
Either way, history can’t be changed, and what will remain written is that Howard managed to crown his great career with the Larry O’Brien trophy, something many other stars never achieved. From fierce rival of the Lakers to one of their key pieces, none of it would have been possible without Howard’s team-first mentality.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 4, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.