In the 9 encounters against Yao Ming, Dwight Howard would come up short 7 times. The Chinese superstar, with his height and athletic ability, gave nightmares to many players. The 3x DPOY was one of them as he faced difficulty in guarding the 7 ft 6 former Rockets player. But it seems DH-12 has found another giant even taller than his previous adversary, one he is left rather impressed with, despite going against his instructions.

In a collaborative Instagram post with The Asian Tournament, the former NBA champion shared the highlight of a game involving Samuel Deguara. “Dwight: ‘ Don’t break the rim ‘ 👌🏾 Sam: ‘ Yea Alright commissioner’ 🤷‍♂️.” the caption read, conveying the conversation between the Maltese player and Howard. However, in the next few seconds, Deguara was seen carrying the rim after breaking it.

Though the 7ft 7 star had no regard for D-12’s instructions, the Lakers star was pretty pleased by Segura’s effort. He left a comment saying, “Only person to break a rim without jumping 🤣🤦🏾‍♂️.”

Apart from breaking the rims, the 33-year-old also had a positive impact on his team. Leading the Team Aces to the title of Winter Tournament Overall Grand Champions. Plus, he was also the Finals MVP, with an unstoppable performance of 45 points, and 23 rebounds with a 78.3 FG %.

Dwight Howard very well knows the ability of Segura, since both were part of the same team. Playing alongside DeMarcus Cousins and Quinn Cook for the Taiwan Mustangs, the Maltese international outscored them all. In the final in July, Segura scored 33 points and 11 rebounds, meanwhile, Cook had 32 points, Boogie scored 29, and Howard had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Seeing the skills of his giant teammate might have served as a reminder of his battles against the 8x All-Star.

Dwight Howard explained the difficulty of facing Yao Ming

As stated about their battles, the 2002 overall number-one draft pick dominated with a 7-2 head-to-head record. Yao Ming maintained a healthy average of 23.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks with 56.1 FG% in those games. Conversely, 3x DPOY could only score 12.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks with FG% of 45.1 per game.

Due to the majority of the defeats, Dwight Howard said, “Hardest player to guard, Yao Ming. 7’5″, shooting fadeaways, turnaround jump shots. Yao Ming was the hardest cause I’m only 6’9”, 6’10”, my shoulders make me 6’11”. But, Yao was 7’4”, 7’5”, 315 pounds, get into the middle, hook shot, you can’t block it. Face-up jumpshot, pick-and-pop to the elbow, he’s making that.”

Officially, the Hall of Famer is listed as 7 ft 6 inches, just one short of Samuel Deguara. But he wasn’t ever known to dunk without jumping. Maybe why the latter’s ability to break the rim as he did significantly caught Dwight Howard’s eyes.