The one thing you notice when speaking to Dwight Howard is that the smile comes across in his voice. Whether he’s saying something good about you, or his crusade to bring more positivity to the world, the grin is in his Georgia twang. There’s so many things the future Hall of Famer wants to be: maybe a zoologist, maybe a motivational speaker, but no matter what, he always wants to be a good teammate. He just, you know, sometimes has a funny way of showing it.
If you haven’t heard, Howard is back on the Lakers for the third time. His employment in California has often been eventful. Never mind his first disastrous stint with Kobe and Steve Nash -- this season, he got in a shoving match with his teammate Anthony Davis on the bench. The Lakers kinda suck. And now LeBron James, the sun which the NBA revolves around, has been suspended while scuffling with a young player on the Detroit Pistons.
Somehow, through 19 games of tumultuous play and drama, Howard doesn’t seem to be fazed by it all. He just wants his respect: from the NBA who didn’t include him on their 75th Anniversary list, from ESPN and the press who won’t give him his flowers and, apparently, from the snakes he keeps in his home that have a tendency to bite him.
Howard sat down with GQ to discuss his unique career, how he wants to start buying giraffes for his home and his defense of his friend and ex-Sixers teammate Ben Simmons.
GQ: So, I heard you like roses?
Dwight Howard: Yeah, I have a rose garden. I have over 12 different types of roses that range from different colors of white, pink, red, yellow and they have different smells. Usually when people get they roses from the streets, they don’t have that smell to them. But the ones I got, they smell like perfume women wear and cologne I have. As a kid I would always hear people say, “stop and smell the roses.” So, I try to do that a lot, to basically say “slow down…”
I got the idea when I was visiting a friend of Oprah Winfrey’s. The guy’s wife had a big rose garden. They had over 25, 30, maybe 100 different types of roses. So I said, “Man, I gotta get this in my repertoire.”
What’s the perfect smelling rose? Since you and Oprah are experts.
I like the sweet smelling roses. It was crazy, Outkast had a song where they said “roses really smell like doo doo” and I just didn’t think that could really be true. These roses I have in my garden, they smell extremely good. It scents up the whole house. I’ve got 20 acres and I can smell the roses from the garden from the other side of the house. Sometimes, it feels like God is moving through the wind. If I’m at home, having a bad day or something like that, I get that sweet smelling scent. It gets me going. It’s someone telling me everything’s gonna be okay, so I don’t fret. I don’t fear.
Is it true you also have a bunch of snakes at your crib?
I used to have over 50. Right now it’s about 13.
Why would you want to live with over a dozen snakes in your house, man?
[Laughs] People give snakes a bad rap. They’re very docile creatures, very silent and don’t do a lot of moving unless they’re outside their cages. I think they’re amazing. Reptiles can teach you a lot about how to be still. It might sound crazy, but I think snakes are always in a meditative state. They’re so zen and calm. They follow the energy that’s around them. They see heat signatures, which is like energy. You can tell by a person’s body heat what type of person they really are. Snakes can help you [understand] the people around you. Every snake I’ve had, they’ve only really snapped at people that were not good for me...
Well, logic says that any man who has a snake will have a snake incident.
They’ve bit me before.
What?
It was a new snake and they were kind of nervous about their environment. When Minnie bit me, she kind of knew she was wrong so she balled up like, “man, I shouldn’t have done this.” I wasn’t mad or anything, I wasn't hurt. I just felt bad that she was afraid like that.
And I heard you want to add giraffes to your home?
I do.
…..Why?
[laughs] They’re like the tallest creatures and so peaceful…
[Dwight Howard proceeds to give a lesson on how giraffes walk that is far too long for publication]
It’s pretty crazy learning the big facts about these creatures.
Which of these show names sound the best to get you paid? “Dwight Howard’s Zoo?” “Dwight Howard’s Wonderland?” “Giraffe King?”
I used to want to be a zoologist! When I was growing up all I did was watch National Geographic and I learned a lot about the animals then. I went to Africa. I was just trying to understand animals. I feel like we were always taught certain things about animals without understanding what and why they do. The only animal I’ve had a hard time with is cats. They real quiet and sneaky and they got them claws. You ever been clawed by a cat? It don’t feel good.
After talking about snakes, giraffes and flowers with you, I wonder if you have stopped to smell the roses in terms of where you’re at now at age 35 and 17 years in the league?
Yes. Every day, all day. I always try to find a way to stop and tell the most high and all my ancestors and all the spirits that surround me, “thank you for being here, thank you for protecting me.” I just try to find a way to say “I love you” to myself. I’m big on that.
You’ve said a lot in the last month about not making the NBA’s 75th anniversary list. Why were you upset about that?
I think that what I have done in my career, there’s no way it cannot be recognized. It was upsetting, at first. But, I didn’t take it too seriously. I felt before that I wasn’t gonna be on it because it felt like [the NBA] was trying to phase me out. People think I’m trying to blame the NBA for certain things, but I look at how certain things have happened in my career and I know some of these things are not on me. I’ve watched how I rarely get talked about when they mention [the Lakers]. It’s like I’m an afterthought. Like damn.
I’ve been in the league a long time. I’ve made an impact on every team I’ve been on, on and off the court, and it never gets recognized. So, I thought it was kind of crazy, but I figured I’d get the short end of the stick. I told my friends and the people I’m close to that I’m gonna start working harder and find other ways to generate positive messages to people. Making a list like that is only to get everybody riled up. To try to compare people’s careers, that doesn’t matter. To compare somebody to somebody else? No. We’re all unique individuals. This is a waste of energy.
You said you feel like an afterthought? Is that just on the Lakers or all around?
Both. I look at when ESPN highlights the Lakers: Obviously, they’re gonna show LeBron and Anthony Davis, or Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook. And me and Rajon Rondo are left out, like we haven’t done great things in our career. Like we haven’t been amazing. We’re always left out of certain things. I try not to look too deep into it, but that shit be the case. We’ve done exceptional things in this league and still are. So, while we’re playing we should get some praise for the hard work that we put in. I don’t want nobody to kiss my butt or nothin’ like that. But appreciation should go a long way, especially when people are alive
We put so much emphasis on a ring. [People say] “he don’t have a ring, so you can’t be considered that great.” But the championship is won when you make it to the NBA. It’s the hardest shit in the world to make it..
A few times you’ve mentioned that “politics” come into play with your career and the lists. Exactly how do they?
I’ve seen the analytics on my last couple of seasons. In Charlotte, I averaged awesome numbers [16.2 ppg and 12.5 rpg]. I think I was in my 14th or 15th season. And I get traded? Out of nowhere?? And once I get traded a story comes out that I was a bad teammate and a cancer in the locker room and I’m not even that type of person. When I was on the Hawks the year before that I won the Teammate of the Year award. But then this story comes out? It’s like someone is putting these stories out to lower my value. And because I don’t speak on this stuff, [people] must think it’s true. It’s a lose-lose situation when you speak on that. I look at my numbers even from last year: if I was to play 20 to 25 minutes a night, I would’ve averaged over 17 rebounds a game.
The valuation from this year says I’m getting underpaid by [the Lakers] by 400%...People keep saying I’m this way or that way, that this is his reputation, this is what he does. I get it: You not gonna be the good person in everyone’s story. For some people, you gonna be the bad guy. But how could I go from the greatest person in Orlando, with the greatest smile and having fun and then it started to transform? I would see articles asking if I smiled too much. Why would you wanna take away somebody’s smile?...I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.
Do you think it’s something about your mentality or the uniqueness you have as a player that rubs people the wrong way? Because at every place, somebody has a story about you.
Yes, but it don’t be from the guys that’s on the inside. It’s people who aren’t even there who are making these stories up. I can’t really do too much about it. When I was in Charlotte, and I always go back to that year, I saw Brendan Haywood on air and he’s saying how people in the organization are saying I was bad in the locker room and all this and all that. So I called him...you ain’t spent one day in our locker room. How could you get on air and say something about something you don’t even know? That’s not fair. You’re taking money out of my pocket. My whole career I have never got on air and spoke about anybody that has played in the NBA or that’s playing right now in a negative way, even if I have my own personal feelings about a player or person.
How do you square that, then, with all of the beefs you’ve had in the NBA? From Chris Paul, to Udonis Haslem, to fights on the bench with Anthony Davis?
That happens, though. Things happen. You get upset. We’re men, you’re gonna get upset and have issues sometimes. That doesn’t mean that’s who we are as people. Of course Udonis gets mad: He hates the fact that when I play, I play a little physical. I might throw people on the ground going for rebounds, I might push somebody. That’s just how I play. If you take that personal, that’s on you…
The whole thing to me is: If you don’t know somebody, don’t judge somebody. We playin’ basketball, man. We sit up here and say things like “Black Lives Matter” and we do all these things in the community where we say we love each other, then let’s be about it all the time. On the court, I get it, we fightin’. You’re not on my team. But off the court, it’s a totally different thing. Let’s move forward. It’s too much hate already in our world.
I talked to Ben Simmons a few months ago, and he mentioned you were someone he leaned on a lot last season in Philly. Can you tell me a bit about your friendship with him? The way you tell it, especially about how folks don’t understand you, your journeys are similar.
I know exactly what he’s going through. It’s a learning phase. I don’t think people understand how difficult it is to be an 18 year old kid to come into a world like this. It’s a different reality being in the NBA. Ben is young and being the face of a franchise going through changes. And everything you do will be publicized. All your mistakes, all your failures. When you do something bad, they put that out there more. The whole world sees it and they judge you based off your mistakes. All of us have problems we deal with on the daily. I don’t think people really and truly understand that part and they get offended when players don’t wanna talk or won’t do certain things.
With Ben, how can you speak on a situation when you don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors? It’s a lot of growth he’s had to go through. It’s very tough to be in the spotlight and deal with some of these things, especially when you feel like you’re alone. People say he isn’t where he needs to be as a player, but I’m proud of his growth. I’m always gonna stick up for him, he was my teammate. At the end of the day, even if we don’t play on the same team, you still my brother.
Do you think folks are doing right by him in Philadelphia? The fans, the team?
It’s difficult to talk about mental health for a lot of people. You don’t want everybody in ya business. On the other end, if you talk about this kind of stuff, it’s gonna bring a lot of attention, and it’s not always good. Everybody doesn’t have the right intentions and you have to watch what you say and do in the public eye. I know for him: that was a real tough situation because he’s dealing with a lot at home and with his family.
He’s done the best job he can. I don’t think the Philly fans have really treated him fairly throughout this whole situation based off what they heard in the media. They feel like he’s obligated to them. But what if this was your son or daughter or one of your friends dealing with what Ben’s dealing with? How would you handle it? How would you feel?
People ask me if I was mad when he didn’t do this in the playoffs…
When he didn’t dunk the ball in Game 7?
As a competitor, yeah I was pissed off [laughs]. Who wouldn’t be? I wanted him to go up and try to score. But he didn’t. And that wasn’t the only reason we lost the game. So I can’t blame that whole situation on him. It’s very unfortunate.
If you were in his shoes, would you come back to Philadelphia?
Well, I would have to be a professional first and do my job. To the best of my ability. But he probably just wants a fresh start. That’s why I wanted to leave Orlando. I just wanted a fresh start. It wasn’t nothing wrong with the team or the city. I loved Orlando. Loved Orlando! Every time I left Orlando I couldn’t wait to get back home to Orlando..
It had nothing to do with the people of that city at all. I was there for eight years of life and I wanted to be somewhere else. Everybody deserves a chance to be reborn. I was way too comfortable there and I wanted to grow as a man. I feel like since I left Orlando all the things that I’ve wanted happened in my life. Everything. I’m thankful that me leaving Orlando happened because if not I would never be who I am today. I would’ve never grown.
What did you make of the skirmish between LeBron James and Isaiah Stewart?
Tempers can flare in the NBA. The young fella got hit in the mouth and started bleeding. In his defense, you gotta stand up for yourself. Now, was it the right time and place to do that? No. But you can’t tell somebody how to react in a moment like that. Now, he also did a lot. He was enraged and upset. I can’t say what he did was right, but I do understand it. Somebody hit me in my mouth and made me bleed? I’d be pissed off too. A little pride and ego probably kicked in too: you in front of 20,000 people, you bleeding from ya lip and ya eye, you don’t ever want to look like that. I get most of why his reaction was the way it was.
It’s your third time in LA: What’s left that you want out of the game? What brought you back?
This is a great place to bring people together. All eyes are always on our team. What can I do to inspire someone? How can I be a positive light? How can I bring more positivity into this world? That’s why. I just smile and have a great time and be the energy for the team, regardless of what’s going on around the team. We all need positivity. We’ve got too much hate in the world.
