What’s a little Christmas fun without a parlor game – NBA edition? Dwight Howard dabbled in some fantasy playmaking involving his favorite teammates. The thing though, his opinion changed between Christmas Day and Boxing Day. One prominent player was dropped from his fantasy roster in favor of another player.

On Monday, Howard kickstarted a challenge for NBA players. He named his starting 5 among the players he’s played with. His first list included Rajon Rondo, Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Grant Hill, and LeBron James.

But the next day, he dropped Harden from both his starters and his bench. Instead, he added the Philadelphia 76ers’ powerhouse, Joel Embiid in his bench. It’s a formidable lineup but that snub is hard to look past.

But there’s a reason he picked Embiid. When they were teammates, Howard compared the then MVP finalist to Mufasa, the original Lion King before Simba and a true leader.

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“I’m not saying he hasn’t been an animal, but I think if he was a lion, now he’s coming out like Mufasa. He’s not little Simba no more, he ready,” Howard said about Embiid ahead of the 2021 playoffs. As a veteran, he spent his tenure in Philadelphia mentoring Embiid.

Dwight Howard’s advice for The Beard

Howard is one of those NBA journeymen. He played alongside The Beard during their time with the Houston Rockets. He played in Philly for the 2020-21 season alongside The Process. After he left, Harden came to the team and we know how that team-player partnership broke down.

Harden went on a rant against 76ers president, Daryl Morey during an off-season appearance in China. The rant created a stir across the NBA community and even Howard responded. “James stay right there it’s a shorter flight to Taiwan,” Howard wrote on Instagram.

Howard last played in Taiwan’s T1 league and was always inviting other NBA pros to play overseas through social media jokes. Now he puts his former teammates together into fantasy teams. Which of Howard’s fantasy teams do you think is better?

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