Basketball journeyman Dwight Howard has played for nine teams, with each stint being more memorable than the last. Yet it’s the way he leaves that steals the attention. He has left the Lakers thrice but the first time stung the hardest.

Howard was with the Lakers for the first time from 2012 to 2013 before shunning a $118 million offer and heading to Houston. Over the years, he explained his reasons, including his desire to be a Shaq & Kobe with James Harden. But on the podcast Above the Rim”, he confessed it was a hard decision.

“It was one of the hardest situations to deal with because you have the media, then you got Laker fans everywhere I go, then you got family and friends… ‘hey, where you going, what you going to do next?’ And I’m like, man, like I need to be by myself so I could think but it was just, it was just really tough, man,” Howard said on the podcast.

Ahead of his free agency that season, Howard filled a defensive void in the Lakers but was on his lowest scoring average since his career began, due to his back injury. The Lakers made it to the playoffs but were swept in the first round by the Spurs.

Howard confessed that until he went public with his decision to leave the Lakers, he received phone calls from people within the Lakers organization, people in LA, and even from celebrities with everyone asking what he would do. The billboards all over LA, endorsed by the Lakers, had the same message, “Stay DH12”. The Lakers had made grandiose gestures for stars like Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, but never for a free agent.

“I wasn’t thinking about leaving LA,” Brown talked about his internal dilemma and also admitted that when he decided to leave, it seemed as if he was “running away” and he“hated that”

A full circle of Lakers’ Stay DH12 campaign for Dwight Howard

“A young James Harden” drew Howard to LA, as Howard mentioned many times. Before falling out with Daryl Morey and the 76ers, Howard had a breakout year with the Rockets. Then GM Morey’s offer to Howard was less than what the Lakers made but he took it to play with a younger team. He wanted to be the Shaq and Kobe of the Rockets but persistent injuries didn’t allow that.

After playing with more teams, Brown landed with the Lakers again in 2019-2020 when he finally fulfilled his wish. He was the answer to Nikola Jokic in the playoffs, as he led the team to the finals, and finally won his first ring.

Howard left and made another comeback to the Lakers in 2021, making up a strong roster again. But to everyone’s surprise, the Lakers missed a playoff berth and 2022 was the last time Howard played in the NBA. His Lakers’ affection is, however, undying and the Lakers fans would have their fingers crossed for another reunion.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.