Former Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard joked about rejoining the team in a separate role for the organization. Howard was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September, cementing his legacy as one of the game's finest centers, who helped the Lakers to their 17th championship in 2020.

On Friday night, Howard attended the Lakers game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he announced, in jest, his new role, per Fox Sports 1's Rachel Nichols.

“I'm coming to the Lakers, baby. They've just given me a new contract,” Howard said. “I'm going to be their new streamer/content creator. Let's go.”

After Dwight Howard's Lakers championship season, which was his second stint with the Lakers, he played for the Philadelphia 76ers the following season before returning to Los Angeles in 2021-22, and now jokes about a new role. Howard played one season in Taiwan in 2022-23. He recently joined Ice Cube's Big3 3-on-3 basketball league in 2025.

The eight-time All-Star and three-time Defensive Player of the Year, who also earned five rebounding titles, finished his NBA career averaging 15.7 points on 58.7% shooting, 11.8 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks.

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Shaq gives Dwight Howard his flowers amid the Hall of Fame

Shaquille O'Neal laughs while standing next to Los Angeles Lakers player Dwight Howard during the slam dunk contest during NBA All Star Saturday Night at United Center
Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Lakers legend Shaquille O'Neal gave Dwight Howard his flowers ahead of this year's Hall of Fame induction. While the Hall of Fame center-turned-NBA analyst has been hard on Howard over the years, O'Neal addressed the mutual respect the two have for one another, per NBATV's Dennis Scott.

“It’s big for him, it’s big for his family, it’s big for the ‘Big Man Alliance,’ of which I am the reigning president. It’s big, I’m happy for him,” O’Neal said. “It wasn’t that we had a problem. You know my leadership style, I learned it from you. I’m hard on guys to motivate them. Some people can take it, some people can’t. But when we met I told him, it’s never hard feelings, I just did that to make him angry. Whenever I made him angry, he played well.”

The two Hall of Fame centers share similar backgrounds as the Magic's first overall picks, separated by 12 years. Both led the Magic to an NBA Finals appearance: Shaq in 1995 after his 1992 draft, and Howard in 2009 after entering the league in 2004, before winning their first titles with the Lakers. O'Neal led the Lakers to a three-peat in 2002 before winning an additional title with the Heat in 2006.