Dwight Howard's Embarrassing Shot Shows He's Trying To Adapt To New NBA

TheSportster

By Rodrigo Lobato

Published Nov 10, 2018

Dwight Howard was roasted online for his embarrassing shot earlier this week, but it could be a sign of him changing his style.

Dwight Howard is unsuccessfully trying to show off his jumper while the Washington Wizards crumble.

Apparently, after 14 years in the league, Howard is trying to adapt his game to the modern NBA. On Tuesday, during the first quarter of the Dallas Mavericks’ 119-100 win over the Wizards, Howard attempted a midrange jumper that has been considered already as the worst shot of the season and even earned him a spot in the weekly episode of Shaqtin’ A Fool.

This was Howard’s third game of the season after he had to be sidelined at the beginning due to a backside injury. Despite his embarrassing brick, the former All-Star ended up helping his team with 11 rebounds – something with which the Wizards have struggled this season – and 8 points in 33 minutes on the court.

The 32-year-old veteran understands that in order for him to play longer in this league where the traditional big men are fading out, and there’s a demand for big men to knock down outside shots, he has to reinvent himself and not rely solely on his back-to-the-basket game. Last year, before the 2017-2018 season, he said that he was going to add some range to his game seeking to expand his game. However, he ended up only trying seven three-pointers the whole season, scoring just one of those. Heading into this season, a video of Howard practicing pull-up threes was released, which means that we might see more three-point attempts this year.

Even though the three-time Defensive Player of the League jumper doesn’t seem to have improved, after three games, his free-throw shot appears to have, finally, fixed up. So far, his free throw percentage is 63 percent, much better than his career percentage of 56 percent. Actually, he hadn’t shot this well since his rookie season where he averaged 67 percent.

So, it will be fun to see this season if Howard continues trying to build a new reputation in the league and move away from the interior game — while the Wizards hold a 2-8 record through 10 games — or this brick put a damper on his wish to become a respectable shooter.