Draymond Green on Dwight Howard Wanting a Retirement Tour: “You Ain’t Kobe, They Don’t Love You Like That”

It’s been a minute since Dwight Howard played in the NBA, but the Hall of Famer hasn’t given up on donning a professional basketball jersey in the US once again. Howard last played in the league in 2022, when the Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship. After that, he decided to head overseas to continue his career.

Howard has had a brilliant career in the NBA. He played for seven teams across 18 seasons, earning countless accolades along the way. But by his own admission, he was fed up with the way teams had been treating him.

Explaining why he chose to try his luck elsewhere, the Hall of Famer revealed that after playing for almost two decades, he was simply too tired of all the lies and would rather “get my little bag, hoop like I want to hoop, and come back home with my family.” Fair enough. Then, in February, he tweeted about wanting a farewell tour, even throwing a little shade at some of his peers in the NBA.

“People like Taj Gibson & Al Horford is the reason I ain’t retired.  I want a farewell tour,” he tweeted at the time. And this is where Howard’s Warriors teammate Draymond Green believes he has lost the plot.

Addressing the tweet on his podcast, The Draymond Green Show, the 4-time NBA champion pointed out, “As one once said, ‘You ain’t Kobe, they don’t love you like that, chasing that retirement tour.'”

“Much love to Dwight man, got the orange jacket, Hall of Famer. You did brother. You beat the game. Ain’t no retirement tour, no farewell tour, you got it. You got the tour brother, it was to Springfield, Massachusetts. That was the tour. That’s the end of the game, Dwight,” he sternly added.

Green’s point is simple. Howard’s many achievements have already been celebrated the way they should have been. The NBA made sure of that when they inducted him into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

“I see Taj still doing it, I see Al still doing it… Dwight, they haven’t beat the game, brother. You beat the game, man. What are you going to do? Start back at stage 1? Mortal Kombat and see if you can beat the game again? You are going to go back to the hood? Maybe, from his Pop’s church, see if you can get to the top again? Go have another Hall of Fame Party?” Green asked.

“You can have a Hall of Fame party for the rest of your life, and every time you have that Hall of Fame party, when you type on that flier, ‘Dwight Howard, Hall of Fame Party,’ there’s not a person who could say, ‘Why is Dwight Howard having a Hall of Fame Party?’ Because you beat the game, brother. Enjoy it, my man. Hope to, pray to join you one day,” the future Hall of Famer added hopefully.

Well, Green will certainly join Howard one day as one of the best defensive players to have ever graced the court. As far as Howard is concerned, he continues to play for the Taiwan Mustangs and is making the kind of bag he wanted.