Dwight Howard wants to serve as a mentor next to 76ers superstar
Dwight Howard intends to draw from his own personal experiences to serve as a mentor for 76ers franchise player Joel Embiid:
“I think the things Joel does is great. It makes other opponents upset, it keeps him locked in and the team plays better,” Dwight Howard said, via ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “Now will there be times when we all have to be a little bit more serious? Yes. And that’s something we’ll all have to learn together. How to be in certain situations. But I don’t think that’s a part of sacrifice. I think that’s a part of just understanding time and place.
“And I think that will be good for me to help show some of the younger Sixers guys because I have been in that position before where people thought I wasn’t focused or that I was playing too much. Maybe for the people on the outside it did look like I was playing around too much. So it’s just finding ways to do things right for the team, and I think we’ll do that this year.”
Howard signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers a week ago.
What impact could he have on one of the toughest, top centers in this league? Howard has been a part of teams which had a lot of potential such as the Orlando Magic team that went to the NBA Finals in 2009 but was beaten by the Lakers 4–1, then a couple of years later, in 2012 he joined the Lakers and played alongside Kobe Bryant and even if his experience there wasn’t the best and his departure came really fast, he got the opportunity to play next to veterans Steve Nash, Bryant, Metta World Peace and Pau Gasol and saw the work ethic, the dedication, the maturity and in general the different approach that those players had towards the game.
From 2013 to 2016 he played next to James Harden and made some good playoff runs in which he displayed his skills and dominance under the basket. His footwork, physicality and mental toughness were his key weapons that played an essential role on Rockets playoff runs throughout these three years.
Then he dealt with many injuries and was traded to a list of teams and last season, after a workout with the Los Angeles Lakers, he proved that he still had some qualities from which the Lakers could benefit and then what happened last season is well known.
Even if he approached his career immaturely and has admitted it on different shows, he accepted a huge challenge with the Lakers and was a part of a very skilful team that won the title in Orlando this summer.
Last season he averaged 7.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game. He was shooting 72.9% from the field, 60% from the three-point line (he didn’t take many so don’t get surprised by this number) and 51.4% from the free-throw line.