A year ago, Dwight Howard was seemingly begging for appreciation from his former team. The Orlando Magic retired a jersey, Shaq’s, for the first time. DH12 hoped he was next. Magic had not reacted to his comments back then that fans speculated there was still lingering friction since Howard’s exit over a decade ago. However, the organization is finally looking past that. The Orlando Magic made a huge announcement – not a jersey retirement, but close – on Thursday night. And Dwight’s more than appreciative about the gesture.
The official Orlando Magic social media pages announced, “Dwight Howard will become the 13th inductee into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame .” The wait won’t be that long either as they went on to say, “Howard will be inducted on Monday, March 24 at 3:45 p.m. in Kia Center, near the Orlando Magic Fan Experience.”
After Shaquille O’Neal, Dwight Howard was Orlando’s Man of Steel sequel. Considered the best player on the team’s 2008-09 Eastern Conference championship team and Orlando’s career leader in total points, entering the franchise’s Hall of Fame was a given. He’s also a finalist for the 2025 draft class of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
While he has the credentials to merit this honor, there was a lingering fear among fans that 13-year-old friction would get in the way. But Orlando is not the grudge-bearing kind (because they chose Shaq’s jersey for the first franchise number retired after their own bitter divorce) and Howard is incredibly moved by the honor.
God is Great Thank you Orlando https://t.co/uPc7FdFgHH
— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) March 7, 2025
Very quickly after the announcement, the second coming of Superman was on X with a heartfelt response. “God is Great Thank you Orlando,” he wrote.
The post Dwight Howard Has Emotional Response to $3.2 Billion Franchise’s Surprise Announcement After Decade-Old Tensions appeared first on EssentiallySports.
