LA Lakers GM Rob Pelinka’s 2020 U-Turn made Dwight Howard ‘highly upset’

LA Lakers rescinded Dwight Howard’s contract extension after winning the 2020 NBA title

Despite Howard being out of his prime during his 2019-20 season with the Lakers, he still averaged 7.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game while mostly coming off the bench.

Howard may not have stuffed the stat sheet that season, but he was a defensive pillar for the franchise. Evidently, most expected the Lakers to bring him back next season.

The former No. 1 overall pick expected the same, and the Lakers briefly agreed to re-sign him before pulling the offer off the table.

“I was told that there was a contract and then I was so happy that I heard I was coming back, I tweeted about it, and my agent called me back and said, ‘Hey. The Lakers took the contract off the table. You gotta take that tweet down,'” Howard told Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson.

He added: “I was like, ‘Damn! Why would they do that?’ and it really kind of messed with me because I’m like, I came in with the right attitude towards winning, not worried about points, rebounds… just worried about us winning another championship…”

Dwight indeed took a backseat to win an NBA Championship, as he was still averaging double-digit points as a starter before joining the Lakers.

Dwight Howard was ‘upset’ with the LA Lakers’ decision

Following the Lakers’ rejection, most blamed Howard for allegedly wanting a bigger role to fluff his stats. However, the 39-year-old denied such claims.

“So many people made a big emphasis on me worrying about points and all that stuff, which I think all players want to get out in the game and score and be effective,” Howard continued.

Howard then joined the Philadelphia 76ers for a one-year stint before returning to the Purple and Gold for his final NBA season. But at the time, Howard was ‘highly upset’ by GM Rob Pelinka’s actions.

“So, but I was highly upset that I didn’t get a chance to compete for a title defense because I believed that we had a special team and we had a window where we could’ve won and been to the NBA Finals multiple years,” he concluded.

Since the Lakers’ front office’s decision to break up their 2020 title-winning core, the Lakers have yet to achieve the same level of success in the NBA.