Dwight Howard Cites His Own 'Crazy' Decision in Advice for Giannis Amid Trade Rumors

It is pretty rare for modern NBA stars to remain with one team for their entire career. Of this season's All-Stars, only six players over 25 years old have been with one team. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic were the only three players above 30 who fit the bill.

For Giannis, that could change this offseason. The Milwaukee Bucks have struggled to make deep playoffs runs since breaking through for an NBA title in 2021, and both sides are mulling a potential trade that would allow the Greek superstar to compete for championships elsewhere and the Bucks to rebuild.

Eight-time All-Star Dwight Howard has been in Antetokounmpo's position (minus the championship as a team's best player). After spending the first eight years of his career with the Orlando Magic, the franchise that took him with the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NBA draft, he fled for greener pastures with the Kobe Bryant-led Los Angeles Lakers. The fit was not what he expected, and after just two seasons, he left for the Houston Rockets. Looking back, Howard says he regrets leaving the Magic, where he became a force as the league's best center. (The segment begins at around the 22 minute mark in the video below).

“One of the craziest things I think I did was just leaving Orlando," Howard said on a recent episode of Jeff Teague's Club 520 podcast. "Not knowing what I had until it was really gone and not seeing when you go somewhere else, you really in somebody else’s s---. You think you can come over there and take it, but nah, it ain’t like that. Being in Orlando, I ain’t realize I’m young as hell, man. 22 [years old] in the Finals, you know what I’m saying? 22, one of the best players already, MVP and all that stuff. And I ain't know what I was doing down there. I’d just tell Giannis like ‘Man, you are Milwaukee. Where are you going?' Ain’t nothing else going to hit right after that. His best bet is to just stay put."

Howard would bounce around the league after three years with the Rockets, doing one-year stints with the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, and Philadelphia 76ers, and a pair of single-seasons back with the Lakers. He would capture his elusive NBA title as a role player on the LeBron James-led 2019–20 Los Angeles squad, but even after that success, he admits he regrets ring chasing.

"They add pieces around him, it ain't the other way around. He don't need to go nowhere and try to figure it out. And he already won!" Howard said of Antetokounmpo. "He's going to get a statue. ... For real, he needs to stay, man. I understand wanting to leave and playing with these guys and chasing a ring, but for real, that's the one thing I don't like and I wish I didn't do, was chase after a ring. Going to teams, trying to figure it out. So I would say he's got to stay home."

The grass isn't always greener on the other side, something to which Howard can attest. Whether Antetokounmpo will heed his advice remains to be seen. That decision could come shortly after the conclusion of the NBA Finals, and could lead to a number of other significant moves across basketball in response.

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