Club Shay Shay - Dwight Howard

Episode Date: October 31, 2022

NBA Champion and 8x All-Star Dwight Howard joins Shannon to talk about his life both on and off the court. The 90+ minute conversation spans Dwight's career from Orlando to his most recent stop with the Lakers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Michael Rapoport, and I have been professionally podcasting for 10 years. The podcast game has changed so much, and if you're looking for the most disruptive podcast in the world,

then subscribe to the I Am Rapaport Stereo Podcast today. We're talking sports, politics, pop culture, entertainment, and anything that catches my attention. Listen to the I Am Rappaport Stereo Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We wanted to destroy LeBron in the cast because of that. I couldn't wait to see Anderson Barrett. I wanted to rip LeBron in the cast because of that. I couldn't wait to see Anderson Barrett. I wanted to rip his hair off. I wanted to kill Ilgauskas, whatever his name was. I've been grinding all my life, all my life. Been grinding all my life.

Sacrifice. Muscle paid the price. Want a slice. Got the rolling dice. That's why. All my life. I've been grinding all my life. Hello.

Welcome to another edition of Club Shea Shea. I am your host, Shannon Sharp. I'm also the proprietor of Club Shea Shea and the guy that's stopping by for a conversation on the drink today is an NBA champ. He's an Olympic gold medalist. He's a three time defensive player of the year, four time first team, all defensive player, five time first team, all NBA, five time rebounding champ, two time block leader, eight time all star slam dunk champ. And Mr. Georgia basketball, my state, Dwight Howard. There's a title missing and we're going to talk about that 75th anniversary. Let's go ahead and get into it right now. Dwight, I've been very outspoken, and we talked about it on our show, Skip,

and I talked about it on Undisputed, that I believe that you should have been on that team, given what I just read off. Forget how they feel about you, where he didn't take it serious, yada, yada, yada, I get all that. Forget how they feel about you, where he didn't take it serious, yada, yada, yada. I get all that. But based on your resume, you should have been one of the 75 best players in NBA history. Are you surprised you're not?

And when you didn't hear your name called, what did you feel? I'm very surprised that I wasn't put on the list. When I saw that I wasn't on the list, I was really upset. And I really was just wanting to say, like, you know, I don't even want to play basketball no more. Like, what am I playing for? I've did all this stuff. I've accomplished all these things. I feel like I've been a great ambassador for the NBA and the game globally. And I feel like that was just like a disrespect like total disrespect and you know even what was you just said about you know people saying like he didn't take it off the court is one thing but what you did on the court okay somebody not take it serious to have three yeah that's what I was like that's

what I was about to elude to like that's what I was about to say. He did that. That's what I was about to allude to. Like, how could someone say I didn't take the game serious when the stuff that you're mentioning, three-time defensive player of the year, I had to take defense serious enough to want to win it three times in a row. Correct. And I actually should have won it four times in a row. The last year I didn't win it is because I asked for a trade and the media went on this whirlwind about me wanting to leave Orlando. And the person who won was third team all defense that year.

And I was first team. So it's like, that don't even make any sense. So it's just like a lot of things have been happening. I'm like me taking the game serious. I've been playing for 18 years. I had to take something serious in order to play that long. Do I like to have a good time? Yes, I'm doing something that I dreamed about doing since I was three years old. Of course I'm going to smile and have fun.

What is it that the fans and the media get wrong about Dwight Howard? This is who I am in general. You know what I'm saying? I think that over a period of time, there's just been so many things that have been said about my character, how I am with teams, teammates. All these things have been, like, you know, just crazy to me that people would even think

that, one, I'm a bad teammate, that I'm a cancer in the locker room, that I'm a bad guy, that I'm a diva. All these things that your partner in one of your other shows used to say about me, you know, all the time. And I used to sit back and be like, man, I want to have a conversation with him to see where he would even think that I would be this type of person. Or where he got that from.

Yeah, where he got it from. You know, because that's not even me. You know, I've always taken this game serious. But I want to have fun doing it. I'm not going to sit and be mad while I'm playing this sport, but I do take it serious. And obviously, my resume shows that, and my body shows that I take what I do serious. So I just think it's always been a misconception that the people in the media are just not being like a polarized character in the media,

you know, where I can be loved, I can be hated based off if I left a team or if I said something about this or me and Kobe didn't work out. It was just all these circumstances that people said I wasn't who I am today. You mentioned that you asked for a trade from Orlando. What was happening in Orlando that you felt that, you know what, it's time for me to move on? Well, with the team, I'm going to start with the team, then I'll go personal. With the team, I just felt like we went to the finals.

Why would you get rid of that team? Right. That didn't make any sense to me. I had no clue about it. No one asked me about it. Like, we just got to the finals. You don't throw away the whole team. They basically blew it up.

They blew it up. So, you know, I was really upset about it, but we did get Vince Carter back. We did get some really good pieces, Matt Barnes and stuff like that. But it's just like we just got to the finals. Let us build. You add around a team that you have. You don't break it up.

Like, me and Hedo had great chemistry. Me and Rashad, me and Jameer are two point guards that played in the place of Jameer. Skip to my Lou and Anthony Johnson. They did an amazing job. Why get rid of these vets and these people that are really grooming me and Jameer and the Youngins on how to be real vets and players in the league?

Like, why mess that up? So after that, you know, on the basketball land, on the personal land, I'm like, man, you know what? I've been in Orlando for eight years. I feel like I'm not growing. I feel like I had a lot of yes people around me or just people that was more so. Had they come to you and say, Dwight, this is what we're thinking. Yes, we went to the finals, but we feel in order for us to grow as a team and possibly get back to the finals,

this is the direction. But because they cut you out of that process, they didn't ask, they just started rebuilding. Yeah, that was just one part of it. But, you know, for eight years, I had called and texted and emailed the owner of the team just to develop a relationship. Because I'm 18. I don't know anything about money, how to spend it,

how to save it, how to do anything with it, and how to be a franchise player. Right. So I wanted to talk to the person who drafted me. Right. Never really had contact, you know. And when that situation happened, it's like, man, let me just go somewhere else and start fresh.

Right. And then it just blew up. It just seemed like the world went crazy after that. Could you have handled that situation? How do you think you handled that situation about going going about asking for a trade could have been handled behind closed doors. I did do it behind closed doors. And that's the thing that people don't know. I went to Otis Smith one on one. The first person I actually went to was Jameer

Nelson. Okay, because we got drafted together. And that was my teammate. He was like my big brother, right? And I went to him and said, listen to me. I want to get traded. It's not because of you stand a nobody on the team i love y'all i just want to change for myself that's it that's all he said bet what you gonna do i said i'm gonna go talk to otis i went and talked to otis i said otis i don't want this public i don't want nobody knowing about this i don't want it to turn into a situation like how leBron just had, and the whole world is hating me because I wanted to lead his team.

Just let me go somewhere and start fresh. He said, I got you. Thought they was going to keep it private. Then all of a sudden, they came out and said I wanted to get traded, and I hated this, I hated that. And I'm like, damn, I never said none of this stuff. Right. And then it just blew up.

So that had something to do with probably maybe the the media and the fans turning on you because of what the way it was. The way. Yeah. The way it was projected to the whole world. And with me, I'm not thinking like I should say something about it or do anything about it, because I know that I wasn't the person asking to get stand out of here or do this and do that I just wanted to leave so I'm thinking it's going to blow over then it started getting into the season and then it's just coverage and just all these different negative things happening and I'm like dang it's nowhere around it then I get hurt so now it's like all this is happening now I get hurt and then now it's like I'm not trying to play because the coach is here. So it's just too much going on. And, you know, I just really felt bad for the city because we did so much in Orlando.

And I know personally in the community I was doing so much. And the fact that all these people had seemed like they got they turned on me because of what some people who wasn't even in Orlando was saying and you know it was heartbreaking for a while was LA the first on your list I want to get traded okay you made that a clear you went to Otis no LA wasn't on your list LA was not on on my list at all. Where did you want to go? I wanted to go to Brooklyn. I didn't want to go to LA because I felt like I wanted to go somewhere where they've never won or they haven't had as many championships,

and I wanted to help that team grow and be a champion. And I wanted to play against Kobe because they just beat us. Right. So I'm like, why would I want to go to LA? I don't want people to think I'm trying to follow behind Shaq or do any of that stuff. I want to do my own. Yes, I wanted to go somewhere else

and make my own name and statement there. And the Magic knew that. I told them I wanted to go to Brooklyn and they sent me to LA. So once I got there, I was like, you know what? I just had back surgery. I was supposed to be out a year. I wasn't even supposed to play that season.

Right. I said, I'm going to just go play and see what happens. And it didn't work out as well as we wanted it to. You mentioned you were supposed to be out a year. Obviously, you're coming in three-time defensive player of the year. You finished second in the MVP voting. You were a perennial guy that's finicking the top five in the mvp you had taken a team to the championship now you're linking up with colby you're linking up with powell what are your thoughts you're like okay this is not my original plan i didn't want to go this is not my original

destination but you know what colby powell another another big defense. Okay. I thought we was going to win. I was happy. I was like, yo, I didn't want to go to LA because we just played Kobe and I really wanted to beat him. Right. But I'm like, this is Kobe. Right. So I'm finna bust my ass to get back

in the gym to come back and play. Right. Mind you, people don't know how bad this surgery was. Right. This doctor is the best doctor in the world to come back and play. Mind you, people don't know how bad this surgery was. This doctor is the best doctor in the world for back surgeries. You go to Watkins? Dr. Watkins. He said that my herniated disc was the largest that

he's ever had to pull out of someone. I couldn't even lift my calf. I couldn't do a calf raise. That's how bad it was. The doctor in Orlando told me that my career was over. I wasn't do a calf raise. That's how bad it was. The doctor in Orlando told me that my career was over. I wasn't supposed to play anymore. I came back in four months. It took a month and a half to get my nerves and my calf muscle to work again. So I wasn't even supposed to play that year. And I came back and had average 22 and 12 and 13 and people saying that I had a bad season for

the Lakers I didn't want to play and all that stuff and I'm like man I went out there and I I thought I turned up and I wasn't even 100 right tore my labrum in the whole process and played the whole season with a torn label so it's like I all I wanted to do was come here and win. And when it didn't work out, just like, damn. I felt like I was all by myself because it felt like when I got kicked out of the last game, everybody turned it on me like it was my fault. I was the reason the Lakers had a bad season. Magic Johnson said,

if I can't get the Lakers to the playoff, then I shouldn't be a Laker. So I'm like, damn, this is crazy. Right. But I just kept moving, kept moving. It didn't turn out the way you wanted it to with the Lakers. Russ comes to the Lakers. He's a hometown kid.

His dream is to play for the Lakers. He watched them win titles. Is there anything that you could have shared with him to like, Russ, this is a different animal. You've got to win here. They don't care about what you've done elsewhere. They didn't care about my three defensive players of the year. They didn't care about my all NBAs. They didn't care about any of that. They needed to see three-time defensive player of the year. They needed Dwight Howard to get one of those awards here. They're going to need to see you do what you've done other places here.

See, I think that that'd be like the misconception where you have to allow that mindset. If you allow that mindset to take over you, you will not have a good season. Okay. Because you're thinking about what everybody else is thinking, and I felt like that's what he was doing. He's thinking about if he missed his shot or he's hearing the crowd boo and they're booing him and they're booing his family and all this stuff.

And it's like, you got to tune that out. Right. I have went through the ringer with the L.A. fans. Right. From leaving, coming back, leaving and coming back, and them booing me, throwing basketballs at me, jerseys, all that stuff. But I understand, like, they just really passionate about their team. They love their team.

So people, some people don't know how to express anger, even when it's a fan right you know so i get it so you got to be able to just block all that hone that out and go win and make them pay for saying anything about you so when i got back and i played again i made every fan eat their words about what they said about me right no matter if they thought that I did it in a bad way or however I left the first time, I made sure that the second time I played, they couldn't say nothing about Dwight Howard, whether it was how he was on the bench,

how he acted with the referees, teammates, it was nothing they could say because I left it all out there on the line. So it turned out good. Do you wish you had got that kind of reception the first time around like you got the second time. Do you wish you had got that kind of reception the first time around like you got the second time around? I think that I got that reception when I first got there.

Right. But I think because we lost that season and how the season went, it was just people were so upset because their expectations were so, so through the roof. Right. And you know, that's every year with the Lakers. That's every year and I get it, you know, but that's why for me, lake that's every year and I and I get it, you know But that's why for me. I don't do that expectation thing I go out there and stay in that moment and I live in that and that's how I'm able to you know, keep pushing we will get back to basketball, but This summer I mean, I know I you know what I'm talking about. I want to talk about your your your wrestling

You're a big wrestling fan. You know, wrestling, I think wrestling originated in Georgia. Georgia Championship Wrestling. It doesn't get any better than that. With Gordon Soley, Dusty Rhodes, Mr. Ray. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I grew up following the circuit.

Savannah, Baxley, Blackshear. By then, you used to come to Glenville. So I'm a big wrestling fan also. When did you become a wrestling fan? Who was your favorite wrestler? I became a wrestling fan in the macho man Randy Savage He actually is my alias my Randy Savage, so I love macho man Randy Savage He would probably be at the top for me. Then you got Goldberg, Hogan, Sting, The Undertaker, and The Big Show.

With the exception of The Big Show, Goldberg and Hogan, all the rest, Savage dressed up, Sting dressed up, Macho Man dressed up. So what would Dwight Howard's character be? Who are you gonna be? You gonna put paint on? You gonna come out there and roll like Nature Boy? I might be the action figure. Okay.

That way I can wear any outfit I wanna wear. I can dress up like G.I. Joe and be slow. I can dress up in a wrestling outfit. I can dress up in anything wrestling outfit. I can dress up in anything because I'm the action figure. Everybody's out there to see me put on the show. You can put a lot of people. Undertaker's a very tall

man. The big show is ginormous. Who else? Hogan is fairly tall. And you got, so you forgetting about Raven-Symoné. Not Raven-Symoné. Dang, Simone. Oh, man. Hemoné. Dang, Symoné. Oh, man. He passed away.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. Ramon. Ramon, Ramon. I don't know why I said Raven-Symoné. Razor Ramon. Razor Ramon. That's why. Exactly.

And then the ultimate big guy, Andre the Giant. Yes, yes. So what's your move? What's theight Howard move? Actually, I have a couple moves I've been practicing. I have the D-bow. My name is Dwight. And so what I'm doing is running.

I throw a real strong elbow, which I threw a lot of in basketball. Knocked the people out. I got the Superman punch with the basketball. Okay. I also have this kick that I do. It's like a real high kick. So I can do it from many different angles, but it ended up knocking a lot of people out. I've been doing stunts and practices, just so you know. I've actually got some videos that I'm going to be putting out.

Because you've already auditioned for the WWE. I did some tryouts. Yeah. I went down to SummerSlam. Right. And they had about 75 people there trying out. But their tryouts are in Orlando, right? They are in Orlando, which was crazy that it's Orlando. So our guys are trying out, they're doing promos and I'm watching and I'm like, man, I believe I can go on stage and do what they're doing.

Right. And kill it. Right. So. But the big one, you got to have that persona. You got to be able to talk. Yes, you got to. The nature boy was able to talk. Yes. All the guys. You got to be able to entertain.

You got to be able to entertain. They let me go on stage. They let me go on stage. Okay. I get on stage and I kill it so bad that they asked me to come back the next day and do another one on stage. Okay. This time, Stephanie McMahon is there.

That's the CEOs. Mm-hmm. And also Triple H. Triple H. He's running it now. So, yes, they both was like, Dwight had the best promo out of everybody in there. If you call us and want to come to wrestling,

we ready for them. So you get, okay, well, how about this here? Shaq also is a big wrestling fan. Yes. Shaq Dwight, 2023 SummerSlam, winner gets the Superman nickname. I like it. I like it.

So you said 2023? 2023 SummerSlam. We got to know, guess what? This even bigger. What? WrestleMania is in L.A SummerSlam. We got to know. Guess what? This is even bigger. What? WrestleMania is in L.A. this year. Okay. Who the king of L.A.?

King of L.A. Let's go, Shaq. Let's go. Let's go. Hey, I'm ready. I'm ready to go right now. Shay Shay, you be the referee. You and Skip, I'm taking you down the way.

That would be, that would do ginormous ratings. Man, what? Superman versus Superman? You also had, they have this special TV show that's going to air in January. Celebrities Training Special Forces. Yes. What was that like, training to be a special force? That was the hardest training I ever did in my life.

You got a newfound respect for those guys, huh? I have. If it was something more than respect, that's what I have for anybody who's ever laced up those boots, trained at anything for any of the services. Because what we went through was pure hell. And I don't want people to think that this is a show where after we finished filming, we went back to our nice hotel and got a chance to get in the bed. No, there was no hotels. There was no beds. We're out

in the desert, 115 degrees every day, 40, 50 degrees at night, scorpions in the sand, all types of stuff. We're getting chased by dogs, helicopters getting set on fire, tear gas. I'm running up 250 foot towers, jumping down the back of them, jumping out of helicopters backwards, getting put in the ocean, getting drown proof tests and doing everything. Like it was the hardest thing of my life. And then the hardest part was writing death letters

to our families. Right. That was the hardest thing that we had to do and then read it out loud. So we went through a busload of emotions while I was there. We all built this bond. Because that's real. Yeah, it was really, really real.

Like, blood, sweat, and tears. And when people see this, I hope they understand that we could have died. This wasn't a show where it's a show where it's fake. We had to sign waivers. I could have actually passed away on this show, like for real. So that's why we had to write these letters.

So it wasn't a fake show. It was the craziest thing I ever did. And people, even the staff sergeants and the people was there was like, why are you doing this? And I'm like, man, I want to break myself. I want to see. You want to tell Sissy how far the White Howard could go.

Yeah, and then I want to see if I can go past that limit. And I got there, and I was able to break past it, and it was the best feeling in the world because I went through some shit there. Like, seriously, like, I never cried so hard in my life over having to walk across the mountain on a tightrope without falling. And it's scary. We're 90 feet in the air. You're going to see raw emotions, everything.

So I can't wait, man. It's going to be awesome for people to see what's the white doing right now right now i just got back from burning man i don't know if you ever heard of burning man burning man is uh this big celebration of life it's in the desert 90 000 people from all around the world come together, and they just celebrate life. They build these big pieces of art. They have these big concerts where these DJs come, and there's 40,000, 50,000 people just celebrating at one time. And you meditate, wake up with the sun.

They have sunrise ceremonies. They have sunset ceremonies. And it's just a big gathering for people to come together and just spread love and great energy. We just got back from there. I've just been really just trying to grow spiritually.

That's the best thing that I could possibly do is just continue to grow and continue to try to adapt to everything that's going on around me. What about on the basketball front? On the basketball front? Well, I've been playing for 18 seasons and it seemed like after this season it's really hard for me to get a job, you know, which is crazy.

Yeah, because I'm watching media day started for some teams, Friday Saturday and Sunday started today okay we see these media day everybody's talking and the media is there and you're sitting here doing an interview with me what's the emotions going through Dwight Howard's mind like damn I should be there and somebody's camp I had I had that feeling all summer like I really can't believe how disrespected I feel. The top 75, it really made me feel like I didn't even want to play no more, to be honest. Right. I was like, why am I playing? I just spent 18 years going hard as I can for the NBA fans, myself, these teams, these organizations, breaking records, doing all these different things.

And then I get punched in the face like this. Why am I even doing this? This is disrespectful. That's how I felt, you know? So like now I'm like, man, I done did so much great things this summer. I know whatever doors I need to go through is going to be the best, whatever my next, if it's a team, if it's a new career, whatever it's going to be,

I'm ready to walk through it. So I would love to play more. I can still play, but whatever happens is going to happen starter minutes I mean back up I mean what are you looking for I mean you and I talked the other night we were at the premiere of the the redeem team premiere and you and I talked had conversations with Brooklyn have you Celtics Robert Williams is out now he's gonna be out eight to twelve weeks a guy that can come in and defend the rim, play in the pick and roll. Brooklyn, they need a rim protector.

They got Claxton, but they need a rim protector. I actually talked to Brooklyn. Like, I went to Brooklyn. They traded me from Charlotte. Went to Brooklyn. They told me that they didn't want to win at that time. So they felt like they should waive me because they didn't want to win at that time. So they felt like they should waive me because they didn't want to win.

Like, wow, this is crazy. A team doesn't want to win. So I get waived. I ended up getting to the Lakers and winning. So this time around, I asked to come to Brooklyn. I talked to them. They say they need a big that can shoot. And I'm like, well, y'all just had a big that can shoot.

So it was like, I don't know, I don't understand it. You know, I felt like that would have been a great pickup, a big that could protect the rim, play good pick and roll defense. Rebound. Rebound, the pick and roll with KD, Kyrie, and Ben Simmons. I felt like that would have been lethal with me in it because I'm gonna get, I felt like that would have been lethal with me in it because I'm going to get – I know for sure KD and Kyrie are going to get

the most wide-open shots they could possibly ever get coming off a pick from me. So I felt like that would have been good. I felt like my presence on defense is something that would have been necessary. And then, you know, just the fact that I've been in the league for 18 years going on 19, I understand basketball on a different level. So I felt like I could have helped that team out a lot. What about Boston?

Boston's the same way. They got a lot of young talent. I felt like I could have been a Bill Russell in this era, you know, with that team, you know, I'm all about defense. I understand have been a Bill Russell in this era, you know, with that team. You know, I'm all about defense. I understand it on a different level. Bill Russell was one of my heroes. One of the first books I read in high school

was Russell Rules. That was by Bill Russell. So I felt like me going to the Celtics and helping them get that, back that championship pedigree, they was right there last year. I felt like me me being a vet helping out some of those young guys those young bigs it ain't like I'm trying to come in and play 35 45 minutes but I can give a team 20-25 minutes and give you a good uh 12 to 15 points and 10 rebounds and make sure the bench is hyped, make sure everybody on the team is ready to go every day. I can do all that.

That's what I've been doing for 18 years. So, you know, if there's an opportunity and a team that really want to win, put Dwight in. What about the defending champs, the Warriors? Oh, man, that's perfect. I've been a Warrior my whole life. I started out at my school as a Warrior. They need a big.

I know they have Kevon Looney. And I know they have the young boy Wiseman. But I'm Dwight Howard. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week you'll get

all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game, every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL Media.

That's Patrick Claibon, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that

Super Bowl. I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast at NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends and who doesn't want that listen now on the iHeartRadio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast Wiseman can learn so much from me because he's headed in that direction of being the great a great big man you know I'm saying so I feel like even in that direction of being a great big man. You know what I'm saying?

So I felt like even in that situation, playing with all shooters like that, Steph, the way he get open with me setting screens, he's gonna get more wide open. Clay the same way. Draymond and the pick and roll, me and him, me being able to teach Wiseman how to play defense, how to block shots.

I see him as a person that's similar to David Robinson in his size and athleticism. There's a lot of things that I could really teach him. So, I mean, that's another good team as well. So right now you're just in a holding pattern. You want to play season 19. I would love to play season 19 and go out on top. You know what I'm saying? I would definitely love to do that.

That would be amazing. And get a parade like I deserve. I ain't never had no parade in the NBA, even after we won the championship. Right, it was in COVID, so you didn't get an opportunity to celebrate like you wanted to celebrate. So, for the sake of argument, if this thing, if a team doesn't call, are you okay with not playing another dribble, another minute in the NBA and you're ready to move on to say something else, WWE,

or whatever it is Dwight Howard wants to do? Are you okay with that? I am. I've been playing since I was three years old. Obviously, I know that basketball one day has to end and there's other things that can be done. Right. Again, I would love to finish my career with a parade on a good team and end it like that instead of how it ended last season. But, man, you know, I've been blessed to play 18 seasons in the NBA.

So far, I went from someone not being able to – I wasn't even supposed to be here. My mom lost seven kids. I wasn't but almost the size of a large Fiji bottle, and I ended up being seven feet tall and making it in the NBA. So I'm blessed. Go back. You said your mom had seven? She lost seven kids.

Yes. You're not the only child, are you? No, sir. But she lost seven kids, and I was supposed to be the eighth one to die. But I just so happened to make it. So, shoot, I was so happy to make it in the NBA and play 18 seasons so far. And I'm grateful for whatever the universe gives me.

You mentioned last year the season did not go the way you anticipated. What the hell happened? I hold you responsible. You're supposed to hold it together. You're supposed to be the glue in the locker room. You're absolutely right. But also, I needed some minutes on the floor. Right.

I'm not just talking selfishly, but I felt like I could have really helped that team last year. And you're absolutely correct. I was supposed to be that guy in the locker room. I just don't think it worked out the way we all wanted it to. I think that every team was gunning for us and they gave us their best shot every night and that uh we didn't get the job done and it sucked it left a bad taste in my mouth all summer i probably spit 10 million times just thinking about how bad we lost and how much time was put into that season and to put into every season,

but just for us to come together, and I really felt like it was embarrassing. Right, yeah. 33 wins, with y'all roster? Even though, like I said, me jokingly saying, I wish I could have played more, but even if I didn't play, we still had who we had. And we still should have been better.

So, you know, I take my part in it. You know, I could have been a lot better on whatever they needed me to be. But, and then I end good last year and it really was an embarrassment. You know, some days I was like, man, we shouldn't even put on this jersey like this. Did you guys have a team meeting?

Did you discuss like, man, what's going on? Did you try to hold guys accountable? What transpired? You got LeBron James, wherever you rank him. By most estimation, he's a top five player all time. You got Russ, who's a top 70, who's an all-75 anniversary team player. AD, although AD was Nick. You're right.

You should have been on that team, but you guys have more than us. Those three guys right there, regardless of whoever else you got, should be more than enough to win more than 33 games. I agree. I just felt like some things could have been tweaked. We could have switched some things up, but it just wasn't meant for us to win. And it sucked, man.

I couldn't wait to play with Russ and Mello. Yeah, Mello's on the anniversary team. I couldn't wait for it to happen again. And it's like I felt like we was fighting it so much. You know how, like, people say you grasp the sand. If you sand if you hold it too tight, it's going to fall out if you don't hold it enough. I feel like that's how it was. I felt like it didn't mean enough like it should have. And this is just my opinion.

I can't speak on anybody else, but I just felt like it should have meant more to all of us. And we could have done more. I could have done more. So I just hate how it ended, you know, because it shouldn't have been like that. But when you look at it, Dwight, you bring a lot of guys, and you know as a team, the pieces need to fit. You brought guys in to play roles that they really never played before. I agree. That's the hardest part. You're asking Melo to play defense. Melo ain't no defender.

Trevor Reza is in year 17, 18. Gone. I mean, you're asking guys that – I just think, like for Trevor, I think he was just put into some bad positions. He had just came off a surgery And you put him in playing the four out of five Are you when you have him in LeBron in? Mm-hmm? That's not fat of Trevor and it's really not fat of LeBron right to have him at the five like this Yeah, it's great because he can score and the offense is going to run,

you know, a certain way. But then now you're asking him to check Steven Adams or Trevor to check both of these guys. And Trevor's strong. He might be skinny, but he's strong and he'll fight. But come on. He outweighed by 50. Yeah, that ain't fair to him.

And coming off an injury. Right. And you want him to shoot threes. Like, you just got to be a little bit better. That's all. How surprised are you that LeBron is playing as well as he is in year 19? That he had the type of season that he had? I'm not surprised.

We came in together. I see his work ethic type of season that he had. I'm not surprised. We came in together. I see his work ethic. I know how he works. His trainer is the best. He's been with him from day one. So, you know, LeBron, he put in the work. He's always working. He always has Mike with him.

He's always, you know, doing whatever he needs to do to stay right. So I'm not surprised at all. You know, I think, you know, what he's doing. He could play to he just feel like he don't want to just play no more. Although it's a you think this man theoretically could play at the level that he's played at for another two, three, four years. If he wanted to. I could do that, but I need a team.

And an opportunity. But LeBron, for sure, if LeBron wanted to play five more years and he didn't tax his body like sometimes he does. Why y'all taxing the man? Who is y'all? Lakers, you. You in the Lakers, right y'all texting the man. Who is y'all? Lakers. You. You in Lakers, right? I am not the coach. My name did not say coach on the back,

or neither did I call out who played or who didn't. Well, I mean, I'm sure, Frankie, the objective was to try to play brawn somewhere between, I would say, 30 and 33 minutes. No, the objective was to play brawn the whole season. Every game. Every practice. Come on, man. You can't burn the man out like that. It wasn't season. Every game. Every practice. Come on, man.

You had to burn the man out like that. It wasn't us. I'm not the coach. I didn't think that LeBron should have been playing that many minutes early anyway, only because he been playing for 19 seasons. Yes. We know what you're going to get out of LeBron.

Get everybody else into it. So when LeBron is there, we all hot. But if you taxing LeBron, get everybody else into it. So when LeBron is there, we all hot. But if you taxing LeBron, you taxing AD, you taxing Russ, now the main three players is tired. Just look at how the season went. Those guys played the whole first quarter, and then they might rest with one minute left or two minutes left in the first quarter.

Then go back in in the second quarter, play the whole second quarter. Then play the whole third quarter. Now in the fourth quarter, because if you go back and watch the games, how did we lose all these games? We lost in the fourth quarter. Why? Because AD's tired or he might have been injured because

fatigue causes injuries. Or LeBron's tired, so now his shots are short, or he don't have the legs to get to the basket, or Russ is tired because the whole game, he playing 200 miles an hour trying to get to the basket. So it wasn't a balance. Like, I'm not saying if you're going to put DeAndre in the game,

let's say, or whoever, put these other guys in so you could get these guys a little break. Right? So now they can go in and kill but they was playing too many minutes and they over exerted they sell. And so I felt like that was a big issue for for the team right there. Like you don't need these guys playing big minutes right now. This is why we became a team, right? You watch the new addition. They added Patrick Beverly Dennis Schroeder came back. They got some different pieces. What are your expectations for the Lakers this year?

I don't want to talk about the Lakers no more because I ain't on the team. Would you be willing to go back to the Lakers? I would have went willing to go back to the Lakers. I've been willing to go back. They told me every time, we're not going to get nobody over 30 a contract, a multiple-year contract. Okay. And so I'm like, dang, I just helped y'all win an NBA championship. Y'all can give your boy a meal or two or give me a meal. Right.

I don't want a whole bunch of minutes. Give me 20 minutes and let me ball out. Right. And you played big for – Dwight, I give you credit. You know me. You played big for me do. Why did I give you credit? You know me you played big for me and that championship run. You was huge. You held your own against a yoke. You had to play had to play big minutes against yoke. You came in you rebounded you play big minutes against Bam against

Miami. You played well, I was surprised that they didn't give you that to bring you back. All right, and then it was like, oh then you go to Philly. You've played well in Philly and to bring you back. Correct. And then it was like, oh, then you go to Philly, you play well in Philly, and then you come back. Why do you think they did that? I personally think that it came from me leaving the first time. So it was like a hint, we'll get you back. But I don't want to believe that.

But I don't know, to be honest with you. I felt like I should have been there. I felt like whatever they asked me to do, I did it. You know, I came in, I played my role to the T. I didn't complain about it. I didn't make any issues. Even last year, the thing with AD was blown out of proportion. And I felt like that was wrong for the people to twist and turn it

like it was me and them not knowing what was really going on and how we ended up getting that out the way. I just felt like, oh, that was – it was messed up. So now it's put me in a position like I'm in now where teams may feel like, I don't know about Dwight. I don't remember what transpired with you. Me and AD? Yeah. Oh, the argument you guys had. Yeah, yeah. You was, I don't remember what transpired with you. Me and AD? Yeah.

Oh, the argument you guys had. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? And they don't know what happened and all that. And it came back like it was all, it was my fault. Right. But you and AD worked it out, right? Yeah, we talked right after that. Right.

You know what I'm saying? It was, it is what it is. Your first stint, you mentioned like, okay, Kobe beat you the first go around. Now you get an opportunity to play with Kobe. Kobe was very, very hard on you. No, he wasn't. You don't think that was hard on you? No.

When was he hard on me? Well, I think he said that he's, what he said, it made him appreciate playing with Shaq and I guess he didn't really like your work ethic. There's no way he could say he didn't like my work ethic. There's no way. There's no way.

There's no way. There's nobody in the NBA who would complain or say something about Dwight Howard's work ethic. There's no way. My body is better now than it was when I came into the league. Who can say anything about my work ethic like that? Tell me. My body is better than it is now.

I can jump the same way I jump now than I jumped when I was 18. Work ethic. Ain't nobody outworked Dwight Howard. The back didn't rob you of anything. The back robbed me of opportunity. I didn't have no opportunity after that because people were saying my back was the problem. Right. But I came back and showed them I could still play.

I won the championship with a bad back. Two times I had back surgery and came back and played for the Lakers and bust ass. The first time I came back, I averaged 22 and 13 or 22 and 12 at the back surgery. Then the next time I come back and we win the championship. So it's like people just be saying stuff. We're not really paying attention to what they're talking about.

Like when I don't if Kobe said, he must have been talking about it in another context. Because when it comes to working at the – He called you soft. He called me soft when? When we was playing against each other, right? No, y'all was playing together. No, we was playing against each other when he said this.

Okay. I was in Houston. Yeah. And he was in L.A. Was that because you had left? Because you turned down a max contract. I did not turn out a max contract. That's what I'm saying.

What max contract? You didn't turn out. You went to Houston. I went to Houston. You didn't have a max contract offer from the Lakers? No. So that was a lie they put out. No.

Let me tell you also this. Everyone was saying that they put billboards all over L.A. That didn't happen either. It wasn't billboards. I'm not going to just say anything bad about it. I don't want the Lakers to think that I'm disrespecting them. But none of that, a lot of that stuff wasn't happening. So there was no max contract to stay with the Lakers

the first time you was with the Lakers. So you went to Houston because Houston gave you the max. I went to Houston because I'm looking at James Harden back then and I see Menace in the pick and roll. That's what I see. I see a young Menace. I see somebody that I could grow with because we

close to the same age. I'm a little bit older than him, but this perfect. That's what I'm looking at. You got Chandler Parsons. He's a young guy. He can shoot. You got Jeremy Lin. He was playing good. You got a whole younger group of people in Houston. So I'm like, you know what?

Hakeem down there. People saying I don't know how to post up, which I used to kill in the post in Orlando. So how can I post up now all of a sudden? So I'm like, you know what? I can go to Houston and work with Dream every day. I didn't see Dream that much? I can go to Houston and work with Dream every day. I didn't see Dream that much when I worked

down there because he was never there, but it was somebody else who I worked with. And I ended up having an awesome time in Houston. We ended up making it to the Western Conference Finals. It wasn't nothing wrong with that. It's just me and Kobe at that time didn't work out. Me being soft. Why didn't it work out then?

Why didn't it work out? We was both in two different points in our career and one me can't do it by herself. I had back surgery right and came back and bust. First of all, I was I think I was I think I led the league in rebounds. I was second or third in blocks and everybody was saying I didn't have a I didn't have a good season.

That don't make sense. Right. Kobe, you're a different place now because Orlando, you were the man, L.A., Kobe. So you're not going to get the same opportunities in L.A. that you were getting in Orlando. So now everybody's saying, well, why didn't it work out with you and Kobe? I'm like, man, it's me, Kobe, pal, Steve Nash, all these guys have these guys didn't even play. Yes. Steve Nash was hurt. Kobe ended up getting hurt. So he didn't even play. Right. Pal was hurt a little bit, but he, he had migraines, all type of stuff.

We just had a team with a whole bunch of guys who was hurt. Right. So I like this year. Almost the same thing. So, again, you saying it's my fault. That ain't even cool. You just said it was my fault this year. It's all supposed to be the glue, guys. Okay.

And listen, you can ask any person who worked in that facility, I tried my best to keep whatever we could do. I saved the whole facility as much as I could. I was around as much as – like, we really tried. I just don't think that when we got on the court, it wasn't there. It didn't match, huh? It just didn't think that when we got on the court, it wasn't there. It didn't match, huh? It just didn't match. But I don't know.

But this whole Kobe thing, let's get back to that. Go ahead. Go ahead. I want you to clear it up. You said that Kobe called me soft. Well, he said Kobe said he appreciated Shaq more when he got Dwight Howard. He appreciated Shaq more when he got Dwight Howard. But did he also say Shaq was lazy?

Yes. So let's go back and let's put all these pieces together. What you think could be true. Maybe both of you were lazy. Shaq was lazy and I didn't work hard. Yeah, maybe both of you were lazy. Both of us was lazy? Maybe. I don't know. Okay. I could I don't know how he could ever say, where he could say I was lazy

at. Right. Because you was coming out for back surgery because the thing is, when you went to Colby, you had the back surgery that offseason, right? Right before. Right before the season. And also during that same season, after every practice, I was the last person there trying to get in better shape, trying to work on my game every day.

You might not have had an apartment yet, so you might have needed a place to stay. Where, in L.A.? Yeah. No, I did. Oh, my bad. The thing was, all right. Remember that year who our coach was? D'Antoni, wasn't it?

Okay. So, was D'Antoni a big man's coach or a guard's coach? Yeah, he tried it. So, now, if we would have had Phil Jackson, we probably would have had a different type team. I'm not saying D'Antonio's a bad coach, and I don't want him to think that, but I felt like Phil would have been perfect for me and Kobe

at that stage in our career. Right. I think when Kobe was trying to call me soft, he was talking about my mentality. There's no way I'm that big and I'm not I'm allowing bullshit to affect me on the court. Right. That's why you're soft. Okay, you're allowing this shit to affect you. Right? That's what he was saying. Not this little dude, not my play like you allowed the man said, you allowed the rest to get at you like this, right? You

allow me to because that game that he did that we was up by like 30 points go back and look at it i got the rebound the whole everybody else was already down the floor it's just me and kobe i hit him with a bow boom hit him with another bow boom then everybody come over there try to break us up and i'm like come, come on, bro. Like, really? But see, he knew what he was doing. That's why he said, Yeah, you saw mentally, I just fucked you up for the rest of the game. Right? Because now what you think about China, fight me and wrestle with me, right? Instead of say, I hear Pat, no, go run the play, get down to court. That's what he was talking about. I want no

he a soft person or something like you can't be soft and win defensive player of the year three times. Right. You can't. You can't play in the NBA like this and the way we played back then and be soft. That's just not who I am. But mentally, he was 110% correct. Why am I letting the refs?

Why am I letting the refs? Yeah, why did you do that? Huh? Why did you let the ref bother you Why am I letting the refs? Yeah, why did you do that? Huh? Why did you let the ref bother you? Because I'm watching how everybody else get calls, and I'm like, damn, I want calls like that. You 7 foot tall. You ain't going to get no call like no 5, 6 foot guy.

You're right. But see, that's what I'm saying. In my head, I'm thinking like, bro, this man just slapped the hell out of me. I can't even see. Y'all ain't going to call nothing? No, we're not going to call it. You know what I should have said?

Bet. All right. I'm going to go up and finish the. No, we're not going to call it. You know what I should have said? Bet. All right. I'm going to go up and finish the next one. Right. Instead of worrying about it. So he was saying mentally, I'm soft in that aspect. Because me and Kobe done had plenty of conversations before that on the phone. Right.

So he ain't, that ain't it. Are there any similarities between LeBron and Kobe from the way they go about their leadership style or the inner similarity? Two different. Two different. LeBron is not – LeBron is – he going to talk. He's boisterous. He going to let it be known how he feel, what he think, all that stuff. Kobe only going to do that when he get to that point.

Right. Before that, if something going on, the way he go about it is give him the ball, and that's how he going to show everybody how he feel. Right. LeBron different. LeBron can – he know he can go score when he want to, but sometimes I feel like he be wanting to toy around and play. Because I've been playing against him for so long.

Right. So last year, like I'm just watching sometimes on the bench, I'm like, I know he's just toying around and play. Because I've been playing against him for so long. So last year, like, I'm just watching sometimes on the bench. I'm like, I know he's just toying around right now. Because I know he could go hard and do this and do that. But it's like, I think that might be the difference. Like, Kobe's like, he's going to kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill. Even after they're dead, he's going to still keep trying. Like, it was, what's that movie?

It's some, dang it. Tina Turner. Okay. And her husband. He said, if you die, I'm going to kill you. Right. That's how Kobe is. He's going to keep going.

He's going to keep going. Yeah. But LeBron, like, he just, he's a, he. LeBron too nice? I wouldn't say he too nice, but I think that they just got a different type of killer mentality. Like LeBron like it's a one John wick and the other James Bond.

Yeah, John wick is Kobe. It's Kobe. He quiet. He like just for real because John wick don't really talk that much. He ain't talking doing all that acting. He just going to kill because I we watching the Rede, like I said, at the Redeem team premiere.

And we see the difference. Kobe's like kind of like to himself. He opened up as it progressed. But LeBron is joking. LeBron is like getting there. Hey, we're going to have this birthday celebration for Kobe. They're like, they're really two different people. And then they always get compared together because of their greatness on the court.

Right. And I feel like people should stop comparing them because it kind of puts like a... It pits them against each other. Yeah, and I hate it because like we should not be putting none of these greats or anybody that's doing this against each other. Like competition is one thing. When we're playing against each other and we talking trash, that's doing this against each other. Like competition is one thing. When we're playing against each other and we talking trash, that's different.

But like, nah, don't take away from his greatness to talk about his greatness. Like LeBron has did some great things and Kobe has done some great things too. Let's celebrate both of their greatness. Cause look what LeBron has done in his 18 years. He's accumulated the wealth of of he's a billionaire now. Right. Why he's still playing.

Why he's still playing. So let's celebrate him for that. All the things that Kobe and Jordan have paved the way for someone like for LeBron to do. Right. And now there's another one that's coming after LeBron who's going to do more because he's seen what it takes to be that goat. You know what I'm saying? Only a few are called to be that goat. Everybody else might be called to be something else.

Right. So that's why these are the goat people. LeBron. Oh, I'm sorry. You grew up in Atlanta. Mm-hmm. What was growing? You grew up, you were a church kid. I think your father was a minister.

My dad was, no, he was a cop. He was a cop. My your father's a minister my dad was no he was a cop he was called my granddad was a minister yeah so even the cop granddad a minister you were in church a lot huh no i went to a church school school yeah so um i was i was around church a lot yeah you could say a little bit so what was your what was your upbringing like really um i stayed in uh college park georgia so where we stayed at was really really bad and uh we couldn't go down the street to the gas station we could see the gas station from my house but we couldn't go down the street that's how how crazy it was. So I just honed in on my basketball skills after that. I got a Magic Johnson VHS tape, and I plugged it in every day, and that's how I worked on my skills so I could stay away from, you know,

everything else that surrounded me, and I wanted to make sure that I could be one of the people that could come back and say yo you could make it like this you can do it and you know that was just my mindset at 10 years old I wrote down my goals to be the number one pick in the draft to be the top player in high school just a whole bunch of goals are coming to the nba and i did them so um one thing my i learned uh real fast growing up is the powerful power of manifestation you know really believing in yourself really writing your goals down and your vision and look at them every day every day i put it above my bed and i just sit above my bed and I used to just sit above my bed.

We'll sit at the edge of my bed and watch it. And just imagine if I was in the NBA and I was the first pick in the draft and what would it be to come out of this area that I was at to be an NBA champion, like all that stuff. I was thinking about it every day. I wanted to meet Wilt Chamberlain. That was my favorite player.

When did you start growing? Were you a normal-sized kid? I was little. I wasn't big at all until I was about 5'9", 5'10", and I broke my leg going up to dunk on somebody. I was just learning how to dunk. Right. I went to go try to dunk, and dude kind of blocked it,

and I fell when I hit the ground. My leg just. You had that little new ball surgery. No, I had. You went there where they saw your ball to make you taller. No, I had the same thing that Paul George had. So his growth plate. Bro, you broke his growth plate.

It had popped. So they put it back in. They put two screws in. And while I was in my cast, I went from 5'8 to 5'11 to 6'11. What? Yeah. Crazy. How you grow a foot?

Man, I don't know, man. It was, I guess it was me going to church. You would tell me I was in the church. I literally, I promise you, man, I was like, God, I ain't going to do nothing no more, man, please. And so I was, I literally, man, people would see me in church every Sunday and be like, yo, like, you wasn't here.

Did my clothes was shrinking? It was crazy. I went from 5'8 to 5'11 to 6'11. In a year? In a year. By the time I ended my ninth grade year, I was 6'11. I was the tallest person on my team. Did you think you was going to grow some more? You're like, man, I might be 7'2, 7'3.

I was thinking I was going to grow some more because my knees hurt so bad. I don't know what it was it was just like pain in my knees every time i moved walked whatever i did it was just pain so you might have to catch up yeah and then uh the doctor was telling me take some vitamin uh uh d capsules and c capsules and stuff but I was like, man, this is crazy. Did you always want to go straight from high school to the NBA? I did. That was always my goal.

That was always my plan. So college wasn't even – you weren't even – college, I mean, North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke, they weren't even on your radar. I did not want to go to college. I felt like it was going to be a waste of my time. And a waste of the school's time and teammates there. Like I didn't want to just go for one year and then leave. So I wanted to go to the league out of high school.

I wanted to be like KG. It was one of my favorite players all time. I wore number 12 cause I wanted to be the reverse of 21. So I wanted to come out of high school. That was my dream. Fulfill that. So if I ask you, who's your Mount Rushmore players to go straight from high school to the NBA? You got Kobe, LeBron, KG, myself.

You only get four now, you keep naming. You only got four about Rushmore. Okay, that's it. Damn, T-Mac ain't make it. My start of mine make it. Kobe, LeBron, those are the two greatest of plays. They gotta go on there. True, true, true.

And then, shoot, me and KG, I got to put my favorite player on there. You're right. You're right. You're right. Looking at you, you're Gatorade National Player of the Year. You're Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award. You're co-MVP with J.R. Smith in the McDonald's All-American game. One of the 35 greatest McDonald's All-Americans.

You go to that game and you're looking around like, okay, did you know you had to put it down in that game? Like, because people say, man, I went to this little private school, little class A school, little private school. I think before that game, they already knew who I was. So that game was just like a solidified statement game. And then me and J.R. just took off. J.R. was throwing crazy lobs, shooting all type of threes,

and I was trying to go dunk everything and block everything. And it just ended up working out great for both of us because we both wanted to go to the league. And that was kind of like our. Our measuring stick, like, you know, we can do this and then get better and better and better every day for practicing. It's a need for us to go to college. Right. 18 years old.

You're a multimillionmillionaire what's going through your mind like damn man there's more money than I ever thought I was gonna have it one particular time and what was the first thing you bought first thing I bought was I got my mom a house and I got me a laptop which is dumb if I go back and look at it like why did I get a laptop yeah I is dumb. After I go back and look at it, like, why did I get a laptop? Yeah. Like, out of all things, the first buy, I bought myself a laptop.

But I really just think I did it because my dad was like, Dwight, you need to save your money. I'm like, dad, I just got some money. Let me buy something. And I bought a laptop. Stupid. I ain't bought no car first, no jewelry. I bought a laptop. Stupid. Like, I ain't bought no car first. I don't know jewelry.

I bought a laptop. And it was one of them small mini laptops. Like, I was stupid. I was stupid. Like, what was I thinking? So you bought your mom a house, not in College Park. No. I bought her a house in Fairburn, Georgia.

OK. So they still. South a house in Fairburn, Georgia. OK. So they still. South of the airport. Well, they have that house there, but they live on my farm. I have a farm in Georgia. OK. In North Georgia.

OK. And they live out there. You got animals on there? I do. What you got? I have some Texas Longhorns. OK. I have a couple of the real big black Angus.

Okay. Then I have some donkeys, chickens, ducks, hogs. So you got a farm farm. Yeah. How many longhorns you got? Oh, man. I just had about six new births. Okay.

So it's probably about total right now, probably about 75 different types of cattle. Okay. I got one longhorn. Black Angus, red Angus, Charlay, Brahma. No, I don't have a Brahma bull, no Brahma bulls yet. What about red Angus? Herefords, what you got?

No, I just got the longhorns. You just got all longhorns and black Angus. I got the black Angus, I got a couple horns. I got Angus. I got a couple of cows. Any beef cattle? Yes. OK. Got a couple. But that's what Angus is for.

I want to. You're not even a longhorn. I want to do more. I want to do more just because of the season is like my dad takes care of certain things. Right. But now it's like, man, I got some really good ideas for the farm. I'm actually starting. I have a garden at my house too, so I garden.

I have squash, I have watermelon, I have pears, I have apples, I have bell peppers. You got a damn apple tree in Georgia? How the hell you grow apples in Georgia? I got everything. I got figs,

I got blueberries. You got a farm farm. No, this is my garden at my house. And I have a rose garden with like 12 different types of flowers. Right. So you got chickens too? I got chickens. When I get back, we're actually about to start the plant for the fall for turnips and collards and all that stuff.

You sell that stuff or you just eat it? This year, I'm going to be selling it and I'm going to be eating it and using it for my diet with my kids. Okay. Stuff like that. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal.

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I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast at NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today, and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast ah so you you live in a holistic you from the earth you eating yeah what i really want to do is try to really teach people that you know a lot of people ask me how to keep myself myself in shape right that's one thing but also i want my kids to be self-sufficient, learn how to live and eat off the land.

We don't know the state of what America's going to be in soon, so I feel like we all need to learn how to grow our own food. We don't know what they're putting in these foods. They're making 3D chicken. We're eating fake food, so we need to start eating the right food so our kids can grow and we can actually feel love again. This food that we eat is all processed. So it's not, you know, when your mama cook food, you break, you know, the person that you love the most, they make that good food. You can feel it. You know, we need that.

I'm looking at you in Atlanta and you're the first player to come directly out of high school and play all 82 games. You're the youngest person in NBA history to average a double-double in the regular season. You're the youngest player to average 10 rebounds in the season. Young person, youngest person to ever quarter 20 rebounds in the game.

Youngest person to do 20 more points and gather 20 rebounds in the game. All NBA rookie first team. Youngest to- Oh, make an offer for one rookie of the game. All NBA rookie first team. Youngest of the- Oh, Mecca Okafor won rookie of the year. Yeah. You feel you got robbed? Yes.

But he had a great year. I hang on front. He had an awesome year. He really set the tone. And for me, after that, I used to want to destroy Mecca Okafor. Yeah. And it was only because he said something After that, I used to want to destroy Emeka Oglethorpe. And it was only because he said something kind of disrespectful to me one time in the

elevator. Rob Markman What'd he say? Rob Markman And it was that All Star weekend and I think everybody was about to go party or whatever. I was just getting back, going up the hotel elevator to go to the rooms. And I was like, yeah, i'm about to just go back and chill it was like oh you about to get your bible and just go reading and so i took that as like him like making a little joke about me because i because i'm a christian right so i was like all

right every time i play him 2020. with that with that all-star game in Denver yes no this was where was this at this that one might have been in Denver or in Louisiana uh New Orleans yeah it was one of them and when he said that it like triggered me after that I was like I'm gonna give him 20 rebounds and 20 points every time we play them And I did it you did that Yeah, cuz you feel that cuz not only that but he had he felt he got he got you a war to hunt That rookie of the year. That's I ain't even care about that no more after he said that I was like for the rest of my Career, I'm gonna try to give him 20 and 20 Just for disrespecting me like that

just for disrespecting me like that. Well, you mentioned that you didn't buy anything of significance. I think the greatest thing you did, you bought your mom a house, mom and dad a house, but you said you didn't buy anything. Now you're known for your cars. I was after that. I went and got crazy on my cars. Yeah.

But I do got a crazy car now. So you started out, what was the first car that you bought yourself? First car I bought myself had to been the Rose. Damn, you didn't even get no starter car, you didn't get no BMW, no Mercedes, no Range Rover. How you start with that? I mean, so when you get the Rose, where you go from there? A spaceship? The Maybach. Oh Lord. I had four Maybachs. What? I mean, so when you get the roles, where you go from there? A spaceship? The Maybach. I had four Maybachs.

What? Four? Yes, Maybach was sending me Maybachs. And I appreciate you guys. But they were sending me Maybachs. And I'm talking about these Maybachs was fire. They sent me Maybachs with like this big air conditioner in the middle where you can just press a button and it just send fresh air throughout the whole thing with like some type of potpourri that come out. The lander lot with the back where you can open up the back.

Yeah, like DJ Khaled. Yes. But now I got a, it's called the Brabus 6x6. And so it's- That's the G-Wagon. It's the big one. Yeah, yeah, that elevator, like, yeah, yeah, Osteroy. It's got six wheels on the back.

Oh, oh, no. Yeah, that one. And I got that from Dubai. That one was... This is my last car purchase, 1.2. Oh, Lord. And after that, I was like, that's it. So how many cars is in the fleet now?

I have that car, and I have the Cullinan, and I have the other Rolls Royce. I got two bikes and a van. That's it? No, eight, eight, eight, eight, eight. I got a truck. You one guy. You need eight cars?

I got five kids. They ain't able to drive yet. You ain't got no kids. That's why I got the van and the truck and the other truck. You do realize when they get old enough to drive, they not going to want that. Why not? How old are your oldest kids right now? 14.

Okay. They ain't going to want no truck. No. Not that truck. I'm not saying they're not going to want a truck. They're not going to want that truck. That's cool, but what I'm trying to teach them is the value of old trucks so they can have this old truck.

You ain't got no old schools? No, I had an old school, man, and my dad, he blew the truck up, man, trying to drive it. He tried to drive it every day like an everyday trucker. He tried to drive it fast. And then set it down, and it just blew up. Only thing left was the doggone door handle. Come on, Pops.

You tripping, man. Pops tripping want my car back. Orlando. Obviously, you a big, you go to Orlando, you know the comparison's going to happen. Yeah. I liked it. You know, I felt like he was the most dominant player

and every day I put on my jersey, I said, I'm gonna dominate, dominate, dominate, dominate. And shoot, I wanted to do whatever Shaq did. If that was dunking on everybody, I wouldn't dunk on everybody, but he took offense to it. Like I was trying to disrespect him. And I'm like bro. Why you did most dominant player to ever play basketball Did you have car did you did you have a car did you and Shaq sit down?

I had a conversation with him but not about that cuz I didn't think that he really Felt a certain way about me until like I started seeing more and more interviews, right? Oh He's not a Hall of Famer. I don't think he should have this. He should have that. I'm like, dang, Shaq got a problem with me. So I don't know what it is or why he got an issue with me. Did he think because you adopted the Superman moniker? How did I adopt it from who? I mean, it's not his.

That's what I'm saying. And the first Superman was Kurt Rambis. If you really want to get technical, Kurt Rambis was a Superman before Shaq So did we both get it from him? Or did we get it from Clark Kent? Is it really that serious? It's a nickname And I got the nickname

Superman from Soulja Boy Because he had a song Called Superman And it was a couple things that happened In practice when I was in Orlando I used to lift crazy weights How much could you bench? My highest bench was It was a couple things that happened in practice when I was in Orlando. I used to lift crazy weights. Right. So.

How much could you bench? My highest bench was. 315? Four something. What? Yeah, 430 something. Yeah, something. I was in Orlando.

Why the hell you need to bench that? Basketball on the web on like two pounds? You're right. That's why my free throws was like that. Nah, Dwight, your free throw was like that before. No. It was because of bench press. I couldn't even eat. I'm telling you, I was bench pressing so much, man.

For real. That's why I stopped, because I literally was. Yeah, your shoulders. Your shoulders, I mean. I couldn't shoot the ball. Right. I was like this. So I was like, man, let me chill out,

do some yoga and get right. I used to bench over 400 some pounds. And that's all I did, go in the gym, bench press, do leg curls, squats, biceps. Yeah, see, I know you were in the bicep. That's all I did at first. And then once I learned how to train like after i had my back surgery i have a doctor uh in uh atlanta's name is dr clayton gibson

changed my my whole life my from the inside out how i how i thought the food i ate you know what i put in my body to drink, everything. This guy was just like a godsend, you know what I'm saying? So I was just glad I was able to meet him, and he was the one who actually got me right after I had my back surgery to come back to the Lakers. I lost 30 pounds in 30 days. Are you vegan? I mean, do you eat meat now?

No, I'm not vegan. OK. But I might have to go vegan because I found out that some of the strongest tribe, the strongest people on Earth were vegan. So I'm like, man, let me try it. I want to try it out. Were they vegan by choice?

Yeah. Because they might not have had opportunity to get no meat. No, they did. But they just knew. Like, for example, gorillas, they don't eat no meat, and they're the strongest. You going to eat 40 pounds of grass? Let's go.

People be killing me that way, you see? Yeah. That ain't mean that they vegan. You ain't grass. But I'm just saying, an elephant, he only eat what he eat. And look how strong an elephant is. You eating 300 pounds of leaves and things? No, but they got vegetables and fruit and stuff like that.

Man, eat that meat, Dwight. You grew up eating meat. Look at you. You would have grew that tall if you had to eat meat. Do you know what happened once the meat that you eat, do you know what happened once you, the meat that you eat, do you know what happened? When they kill these animals, that stress from those animals is getting transferred to you.

That's why we have all these mental issues that we're having in our country right now, because the foods that we eat, even all the processed stuff, that stuff sends off a certain vibration. What happens when you pluck that vegetable off the vine? Nothing happens. It ain't stressed? No.

Oh. Because where is it coming from? Like an apple. What is the apple on? It's on a tree. You pluck it. And what else is it on? It's going to be growing.

And then it's going to get ripe. You stop it from, you study the growth. It's going to get ripe. So what you know, you're about to farm and all that stuff. I grew up with a farm. Now, see, the good thing is if you eat it food from farm to table, then yes, I can understand eating meat like that. But if we're getting it from the 3D source,

if we're getting it from Google and YouTube. But you about to eat it from farm to table, right? That's correct. So I would do that. That's what I'm saying. I would do that, but not just going out every day and getting crazy types of work and all that stuff. How special could you and T-Mac and Grant Hill?

Could have been? Oh, my God. Man, I was trying to – it really hurt me that T-Mac said that he didn't want to play with nobody from high school. And I'm like, didn't you say you came from high school? Why are you not going to play with nobody from high school. And I'm like, you didn't you say you came from high school? Are you not going to play with somebody from high school? It's so much stuff I could have learned from just, you know, from him and then Grant Hill.

But I just felt like and I could understand it now that I'm older. You want to play with an older person because of the minds. Right. And I'm like, bro, now I could play with a younger guy because I could show him the right type of mindset to have. Right. Because I didn't experience it from the top to the bottom. I know what it takes to get to the top. And I know what happens if you're at the bottom and then what you got to do to stay in the

league. You know what I'm saying? So I don't mind playing with a younger guy on the team because I believe I can help him. I think that a lot of those guys back then did not have patience to want to be with a younger guy. And I get it because after the season, you don't win. You put in all this work.

You're like, man, what did I just do all this for? Like, why? But, you know, it's a learning process. So I just, you know, looking back on it now, it would be a lot better now. When you look back, you guys Nike had built this big promo. It was the Muppets, LeBron and Kobe. Yeah, you ruined it.

I ruined. You did ruin it. I got my own puppet right at home. Right. And my dog is still got a puppet at the house. I ruined it. I ain't ruined it. You did ruin it. I got my own puppet right at home right now. My dog done messed it up, but I still got a puppet at the house and I'm glad I ruined it. Cause that one ain't right. They pissed our whole team off.

And I'm glad we went out there. We showed LeBron and the Cavs that hell no, the puppet gotta go. For real. Cause I'm like, how y'all gonna have a whole Nike commercial about LeBron and Kobe in the finals? And they ain't even in the finals yet.

And we took so much. We took that. Y'all took that personal, huh? Did we? We wanted to destroy LeBron in the cast because of that. I couldn't wait to see Anderson Barrager. I wanted to rip his hair off. I wanted to kill what Elgowski or whatever his name was.

You dropped 40-14 in the game. I'm telling you, I could not wait to get on the floor with them. I tried to break the goal in Cleveland. That's why the shot clock came down. Was Ben Wallace on that team that year? I think he might have been. Every big man they had, because they won. I said, I'm going to get my own puppet.

I brought my own puppet to our gym. and I had my own puppet at practice. You don't want to do us like that. I was kind of looking for it. I was disrespectful. And you wanted to see that? I did. That's messed up. You from Georgia, and you wanted to see two people that ain't even posted Georgia play in the finals.

I wanted to see, I mean, sometimes you want to see. I mean, can you imagine not seeing Bird and Magic? Can you imagine not seeing Federer and Nadal? I mean, some things you just got to see. Dwight and Kobe. What is you talking about? That's pay-per-view. That's pay-per-view. You know how many people wanted to watch me and Kobe scrap?

Man, y'all, you went out there, man, y'all got... Well, that's only because I'm going to give you, I'm going to tell you what happened. What happened? Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Derrick Fisher, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum and Phil Jackson. They had experience that we didn't have. They knew what it took. They knew what to do at all the right moments in the game.

And for us, I felt like at that time, we were so young and inexperienced that we didn't know how to handle the moment. Right. Because, mind you, this is the finals. You got this big, the big trophy on the court. Yeah, yeah. Big air trophy.

You got all these fans. We the only team playing in the world besides the Lakers. So it's like, this all new for us. Right. They knew how to handle that whole situation. We had just got up in it. So for us, we all excited. And then I think a couple plays kept us out from winning.

That layup with Courtney Lee. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How Gasol goaltended. If you go back and look, I think he goaltended it. Right. That play right there cost us, might have cost us a series. I believe we would have won that game. We would have won a series.

That was game one, if I'm not mistaken, right? Or game two? Game two, I think. Game two. But you know what? Kobe and them did it, man. Derrick Fisher hit that three to put the dagger in. But man, after that game,

I sat down and watched them celebrate. And I was like, man, if I get back to the finals, we're not losing. I'm going to make sure I do whatever I can to where our team is no doubt that we're going to win. Right. I had Lamar Odom on my podcast, and he said he knew they would beat you guys when he saw you joking in the court. Do you think people took your personality, because you are a fun-loving,

you're an outgoing guy, and took your personality and you you you are a fun-loving you're an outgoing guy and took your personality and held that against you yeah because you're the same guy that was joking up and down the court when you won three defensive players of the year so it don't make no sense but i but i get it that's again like i said just these older guys and the perception that they've had people's perception can become every everyone's reality right so they see that i'm laughing having a good time and in their mind they're probably thinking he ain't really focused on basketball he thinking about everything else but in turn when i'm training and practicing that's when i'm not laughing and smiling because i'm really locked in on getting

better. The court, when I'm out there in front of the fans, that's the show time. That's when I'm out there at my greatest. I'm having a good time. I'm going to dunk block shots and have a good time. Why am I out there mad like I'm an MMA fighter? That's not who I am. I can't go out there and be that way. And it's crazy that I've had to, and I still have to express that to people like, what? This is just who I am. Do you think you're a good leader? Do I think I'm a good leader? Yes.

I think I'm a better leader now than I've been in the past. I think that there are some things that I could have worked on, but I also think that I, at those times, I didn't have the proper guidance to be able to lead, but I think I'm a good leader. Did you ever have problems connecting with your teammates? Did you ever have problems with your teammates? I don't think I really had a lot of problems with my teammates, like people said that I did. I know in Orlando we were very close-knit. In Houston, the same thing. We was very close-knit.

Well, then why are y'all close-knit? Why did you and James Harden fall out? Did y'all fall out? I don't think me and James was close. Okay. And I don't know what happened. Because you wanted to go there because you were like, man, pick and roll. Me and James Harden, the pick and roll. He. And I don't know what happened. Are you want to go there because I would pick it roll me and James Harden to pick it roll.

He'll bucket get a pick and roll was definitely down to me. I'm not trying to figure that out to since I left Houston. Why is he acting like this? Because I left LA because they don't play with him. So it wasn't like so how soon did you notice a shift or change in his attitude

towards you? I would kind of say like in our second season together and I just like I ain't like I feel like we compete against each other when we should be. Did you talk? Did you have a conversation with him? I didn't. That's what that was. That was my fault. That was my fault. And actually I had a conversation, but it was kind of too late. And I could have been better at talking to him. But I chose to go around him, and we talked to other people, which now the message coming from other people. Yeah, it's going to get lost in translation.

So I could have been better at that, for one, as being an older guy and knowing better. And two, just if really wanting to win, really squashing that better. You know what I'm saying? I didn't know how to at the time because I didn't really know how to talk to him like that. Right. When it seemed like it had gotten to that point where when we first got there it was

cool but then after it got to that point it was just like dang, we not even talking no more. We decided to come down here together. I wanted to come see us win championships and us grow. But, you know, it didn't happen that way. So, I'll put that on me. Right. I'll put that part on me.

Where would you rank yourself as the all-time great defensive big man? As the all-time great defensive big man? Yeah. I got to be top three. Name three better besides probably Bill Russell. I got three defensive besides probably Bill Russell. I got three defensive player, defensive player of the years. I mean, yeah. I mean, if you just look at a war, you, you,

you like your defensive prowess better than Elijah one. How many he got? He got one. Okay. David Robinson. How many he got? He got one. Okay. David Robinson. How many he got? Well, if that's the case, so Ben Wallace got four. Dikembe got four. So they got more than you.

Okay, so we right there. No, no, no. You said top three. I named guys. Okay. All right, you right. You right. All right, all right. So I like Dream.

Okay. Dream, I think he's top. And so, I would go with me, Dream, and probably Dennis Rodman. You let Bill Russell off? All right. Please, nobody think I'm saying Bill Russell can't play defense. I just believe that with the era that we have, I don't know. I don't know.

I like Bill Russell too. But he not in that group because he Bill Russell. Okay. He by himself. Okay. You say you have a 14 year old son. How many kids do you have now? Five. You have five kids. Five. Oldest is 14.

Oldest 14. The youngest is eight. Okay. Had five baby mamas. One of them passed away right before the bubble. So my youngest son has been living with me since then. And ever since I've been in the league and had kids, you know, people have always tried to find a way to make it seem like I'm not a good father and I don't take care of my kids and all that stuff. And that's one of the things too that I back then I should have addressed and talked about.

But I was just like, why? My kids know I love them and that's all that matters. But it just sucks that people would be so caught up in somebody's life like that, that they would sit up there and make up lies and pass judgments on situations that they have no clue on. How difficult is it to be a professional athlete

and to be a single parent? It's hard as hell. Having to travel all the time and leave my son, you know what I'm saying? And when his mom died, he was six. So that's a very critical age. Yeah, he really didn't understand what was going on. He really didn't understand, you know,

cause when she first passed away, he said to me, hey dad, my mom died, but they took her to the hospital. She's going to be back. So in his mind, he's thinking, and I understand that she's coming back because that's what, when you go to the hospital, you're going to come back. They're going to get you. They're going to help you. So I'm like, man, how do I even express this to him and tell him that?

So it took me a while to really, really like get him to have a better understanding. What death is. Yeah. And it just made our relationship so much better, you know, and now it's just like that time that we've had together is it's really bonded us to a point where the other kids, my other kids is like, man, like, Dad, we need, we want you, like, please, can we live with you? Like, it's just amazing to see my kids are getting a lot older now. So just the different personalities and me being able to talk to them about my experiences and it's just so different.

It's just so different. It's just so different. I'm glad that, you know, even though I have five children, I had to experience them in having different moms. I'm glad I have these kids. Because it's the best thing in the world, man. So it's a blessing to be able to have children and the personalities that they have. EDM play sports?

All of them. My daughters are really just starting to get into volleyball and basketball. Are they tall like you? They tall. My daughter is 11 and 12 and they at my shoulders and I'm seven feet. Wow.

That's tall. And my son is eight and he's right here in the middle of my chest. So it was like, my kids love sports, but they can do it all. I feel like I almost got like the Dwight Howard version of the Jackson 5. Right. So like I've been really coming up with some ideas of like what I can do to see them really, really be successful in life. And I want to really help them with that. So

I'm looking forward to really doing that. Have you thought about, well, you know what, if I don't play basketball, if last year, year 18, was my final year, have you thought about the transition to maybe coaching your kids? Obviously, you have more time to spend with the kids. Have you thought about that? I would I love that being able to coach them and being able to really like pull that greatness out of them you know I believe

that every person on earth has greatness inside of them right we have that energy built up it just would need someone to call help us call on that greatness help us pull that greatness out and with my kids i can see it i see what it i know what it would take because i had to go through the ringer to get to where i am today right so they have a perfect example of what to do and what not to do because I've experienced so much in the league where they know they can do this and be successful and do this and not be successful. And I've had the opportunity and the blessing to experience it,

even the bad things I've experienced, like you just alluded to, somebody coming out and making a statement and saying, I'm like this. Or, you know, my situation with my kids' moms, you know, all these things could cause somebody to go crazy. Do you hate that, like, one of your kids' mom, it became so public, and you wish you could have handled

that situation behind closed doors? Look, look, we can handle this. Who was in the bed with us? They were just me and you. Right. No TMZ. So why are you putting all these other people Look, we can handle this. Who was in the bed with us? Yeah. It was just me and you. Right. No TMZ. So why are you putting all these other people in our situation? Because they not going to ever understand it.

Right. They not going to see from the father. They not going to see the mother's point of view. They not going to see the child's point of view unless they've experienced it. Right. And the people that experience it, they going to tell you the same thing that i'm telling you don't let the people out in the public into your private business right because they will ruin you and they will ruin the kids minds right and i don't think sometimes people really understand that until it's a

situation and they have to experience it for themselves. And now they're like, I wish I never did this. I should have did it this way. But then it's okay. Now we know. Let's keep this private. Let's keep this between me and you because our son or our daughter is the most precious in this moment. Let's not forget what we're actually, our purpose is. So, yeah, it just takes a lot of times with the kids moms

they haven't experienced nothing like this before being with an nba player dealing with the fame the fortune or whatever that whatever may come with being a sports figure yeah they never dealt with that you know what i'm saying so obviously for on a woman's side on a woman's standpoint, they're dealing with being, they could feel rejected. They could feel like the people online are talking about them, so they're hurt about this. And now they want to hurt people, might want to hurt somebody else. It's just so much going on. And it's like, yo, let's keep it private, man. You don't want all these people in your business because they really don't care.

Yes. And that's the thing that a lot of people don't really get until they actually get into the situation and see. These people don't care. No, they don't. They only doing this because it's in the moment. They want that gossip. They want to have something to talk about.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dwight, I really appreciate you stopping by and giving me a couple of minutes of your time. Yes, sir. If last year was your last season, congratulations on 18 great years. Thank you so much. You're going to be in the Hall of Fame in five years from when you do hang it up.

So congratulations on an unbelievable career. Thank you so much. One Georgia boy to another. Yes, sir. Down South Georgia, boy, baby. We! Down South Georgia, boy, baby. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news

and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.