Dwight Howard reveals he almost got kicked out of the NBA for saying ‘Free Palestine’

Former NBA center Dwight Howard recently said that he was almost kicked out of the NBA when he was a member of the Houston Rockets for tweeting “Free Palestine.”

“A couple years ago when I played for the Houston Rockets, I tweeted ‘Free Palestine,’” Howard said. “And I got – I dang near got kicked out the league for it. And I’m like, trying to figure out why. You know what I’m saying?”

Howard continued.

“Less than 10 minutes after I tweet that, I get a call from the commissioner of the NBA, agents, people working with my foundation at the time, Texas, ‘You gotta erase this tweet. You gotta take this down,'” Howard said. “I’m like, ‘What did I do that was so bad? Can somebody explain?’

“And it was just like because I went against the grain – I said something that people didn’t like.”

Howard revealed that he worried that if he went too far that he wouldn’t have a job in the NBA.

An eight-time All-Star, Howard won three Defensive Player of the Year Awards in his NBA career and was selected to an All-Defensive Team five times. He also led the NBA in blocks per game in the 2008-09 season and the 2009-10 campaign.

Howard’s best seasons of his NBA career came when he was with the Orlando Magic, as he led the franchise to an appearance in the NBA Finals and finished in the top seven in the NBA MVP voting five times.

Howard spent the 2012-13 season with the Los Angeles Lakers before spending the next three in Houston. As a member of the Rockets, Howard averaged 16.0 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 60.1 percent from the field.

He made an All-Star team and an All-NBA team in his first season in Houston, but he never earned another selection to either team the rest of his NBA career. Despite that, Howard eventually became an NBA champion later in his NBA journey.

The center ended up returning to Los Angeles for the 2019-20 season, playing alongside Anthony Davis and LeBron James. Howard appeared in 69 games during that regular season and averaged 7.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. He also finished ninth in voting for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award.

Howard has not played in the NBA since the 2021-22 season, but he spent time playing professionally overseas in Taiwan.