The new NBA season is underway! Don’t know about you, but here at the offices of the ShaqFu Radio blog, we couldn’t be happier. With the start of the new campaign, there’s already talk of roster changes and big moves.
Commenting on a recent social post, our man Shaq came out in favor of seeing big-man center Dwight Howard move to Memphis, after the Grizzlies announced one of their big stars will be out for the season.
Just as the season was getting ready to tip off, the Griz announced last weekend that center Steven Adam (a.k.a. Aquaman) will be out for the entire season. Adams will undergo right knee surgery soon. He suffered an injury in the playoffs last season, and it seems regular, non-surgical rehab did not solve the issue.
The announcement leaves the Grizzlies without a big man in the center. Recently (again, as of this writing), the well-known basketball social media page, “Basketball Forever,” posted a photoshopped picture of Dwight Howard wearing a Memphis jersey. Apparently, O’Neal is all for the idea, as he reposted “Basketball Forever’s” Instagram post on his stories as well.
As for Howard himself, it’s been an up-and-down couple of seasons recently. No doubt he was – at one time – quite the dominant force in the NBA. Lately, not so much. Still, we are talking about a three-time Defensive Player of the Year who was a fearsome shot-blocker and rebounding machine. Definitely a force at both ends of the court.
In recent years, Howard has – to use a hoops term – bounced around a lot. There’ve been stints with the Houston Rockets, the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, and beyond. His performances became less consistent, and injuries started to take their toll. Can he still make an impact? That’s the question that may be facing the Griz front office.
After all, Howard did join Shaq’s old team, the LA Lakers for the 2019-20 season, and while there, he did add meaningful minutes during the Lakers’ championship run.
Still, after the time with the Lakers, Howard made the highly unusual move (or was it?) of heading overseas. He played in the professional league on the island nation of Taiwan, in their T1 League.
Sure, the move drew a lot of criticism… Perhaps it was just Howard’s way of having fun playing basketball again, and making a significant paycheck in the process.
The question now is, will we see him back on the NBA court? Based on his experience in Taiwan, he looks fit enough to bang bodies inside the paint and isn’t showing signs of slowing down. We’ll see!