Washington Wizards big man Dwight Howard’s 2018-19 season continues its descent to rock bottom. In the latest turn of events in his already eventful year, Howard is reportedly in danger of missing a significant chunk of the season after getting recommended to go under the knife to repair a gluteal injury, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Washington Wizards center Dwight Howard will likely need a surgical procedure to provide relief from a gluteal injury that has frequently sidelined him this season, league sources tell ESPN.

More from Wojnarowski:

Howard received a recommendation from a nerve specialist in Los Angeles today and may seek further consultation before making a final decision on a procedure that could cause him to miss a significant portion of the regular season.

In the event that Howard would need to step away from basketball activities to recover from this seemingly inevitable surgical procedure, the load in the Wizards’ frontcourt will be shared by Thomas Bryant, Ian Mahinmi, Jason Smith, and Markieff Morris.

Howard last stepped onto the court on Nov. 18, playing in just seven minutes of a 119-109 home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers before exiting the contest after aggravating his gluteal injury – the same issue that caused him to miss Washington’s first seven games of the season.

The Wizards inked Howard to a two-year deal worth $10.9 million back in July in hopes of finally having an imposing anchor in the middle to complement the team’s dynamic backcourt tandem of John Wall and Bradley Beal. Instead, they got a damaged good in Howard, whose return to action is currently cloudy at best.

In nine games in Wizards threads this season, Howard mustered averages of 12.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks.