All of the members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2025 have now been announced, and it includes two men who used to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.
News leaked on Wednesday that Carmelo Anthony, who spent his final season with the Lakers, had gotten the nod. But another former member of the team who was also voted in is Dwight Howard.
Howard spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Orlando Magic after he was the No. 1 pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. He was then traded to the Lakers in the summer of 2012 in a blockbuster trade, but he left after one season amidst a strained relationship with Kobe Bryant.
He returned for the 2019-20 season, and at that point, his reputation was at a low point. But he embraced a reduced role off the bench and played a key role in the team winning the world championship that year.
Howard even had a third stint with the Purple and Gold during the 2021-22 season, but by then, it was clear that he had very little left in his tank. The following season, he played for the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League in Taiwan.
He ended up playing 18 seasons in the NBA and won three straight Defensive Player of the Year awards while getting eight All-Star game selections and winning five rebounding titles.
He has wanted to come back to the Lakers for yet another stint since, but the team doesn’t seem to have any interest in him.