It appears as if Dwight Howard still holds some grudges against the Atlanta Hawks. Howard probably felt very disappointed after being traded away from Atlanta to Charlotte. He had just signed a 3-year deal worth $70.5 million with the Hawks a year ago, and is also an Atlanta native and attended high school there at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. Being traded away from your hometown is never a good experience, so it is safe to say Dwight still feels a little salty.

But tonight, Howard's Hornets host the Hawks and he sure wants some revenge. According to Rick Bonnell from the Charlotte Observer, Dwight does not have any good intentions as he faces his former team. “I wanna kill them,” Howard said about the Hawks, according to Bonnell.

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The three-time Defensive Player of the Year award winner has had an overall better season with Charlotte than he did with the Hawks last year. This season, he averages two more points (15.6) and almost one-half more blocks (1.6) with very similar playing time, rebounding, assisting and stealing. The one thing that did take a big hit is his field goal percentage, which decreased from 63.6 to 54.2 percent. But still, he takes two more field goals and two more free throws than he did last year, so I guess he feels more comfortable.

A big part of why Howard ended in Charlotte is head coach Steve Clifford. He was an assistant for the Orlando Magic, back when Howard played for them and was, at some point, the best center in the league. It appears as if Clifford pushed Charlotte to trade for Dwight, and that is reflected in his game; he gets more touches, more shots, and more opportunities. Howard has all the motivation he needs to beat up everyone on the Hawks roster.