Dwight Howard thinks he made a mistake by leaving the Los Angeles Lakers to join the Houston Rockets during the 2013 offseason.
The eight-time NBA All-Star spoke about the decision on the "Above The Rim with DH 12" podcast, admitting he was in an emotional state after the Lakers got swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs.
"That's one thing that I wish I could go back and be like, 'Let me make this decision wisely and weigh everything out,'" Howard said. "I don't think I weighed my decision really, really well at the time. I think my emotions got the best of me because I was on this emotional low already from having to leave Orlando, then coming to the Lakers, and us not succeeding."
One of Howard's regrets is only getting to play alongside the late Kobe Bryant for one season in L.A.
"It was like, dang, if I was patient. If I was a little bit more patient, and I just trusted the process," he said. "I sit back and look like, dang, if I would've really cherished those moments with Kobe as a teammate, and what it could've been if we would've had two, three, four years together playing basketball and how much better I would've got.
"Just all different types of things could've happened. I know I did make up for it by winning a championship, but I think it would've been a different story."
Howard, who now plays for the Taiwan Mustangs of the Asian Tournament, was traded to the Lakers in 2012 after eight seasons with the Orlando Magic. He went on to have two more one-year stints with the Lakers, winning a title with the team in 2020.
