Dwight Howard was looking forward to making an NBA comeback. Many fans have been eager to see him perform in the league ever since his outburst in Taiwan. But since joining the Taiwanese T1 League in November 2022, his life hasn’t been the same. The athlete was accused of se*ual assault and charged with several other punishable acts. He has also received a lot of backlash on social media as well.
The 3x NBA Defensive Player of the Year was once beloved by everybody. But his name has only been linked to drama for a while now. Stephen Harper was the man who filed the lawsuit claiming that Howard assaulted, battered, inflicted emotional distress, and falsely imprisoned him. He also claimed he was forced to have s*x with Howard and another man. Harper claimed that he wasn’t informed about the third-party individual.
Dwight Howard ended up speaking out through his attorney Justin Bailey admitting that he knew Stephen. The ex-NBA player claimed that they had a private and consensual rendezvous as well. Howard told his attorney that Harper was aware of Kitty’s visit. He also admitted that there were several messages exchanged between Harper and himself between May and July 2021.
Stephen A. Smith blamed Dwight Howard for ruining his chances of an NBA return
Recently, Dwight Howard announced that he was returning from Taiwan and that he wasn’t sure if he would play there again. Amidst the commotion, he was also looking out for a job in the NBA and the Golden State Warriors were interested in meeting him. However, a deal never materialized and Howard was left without a contract again. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith had an interesting take on this matter.
He said, “Let me tell you what came to my mind when I thought about this: That’s why teams didn’t want him… Now, whether they’re going to admit it or not and I’m not going to mention teams… or accuse anybody of something I simply don’t know, I’m guessing. What I’m saying is that’s the first thought that came to my mind, that’s why they don’t want him.”
Smith added, “Because what do I constantly try to educate y’all about as somebody that’s been a reporter for 30 years… we always know more than we reveal.” Before migrating to Taiwan, Howard tried to sign deals within the NBA. However, nobody approached him during the 2022 free agency. Smith believes that teams were aware of the allegations and wanted to do with it.