Dwight Howard is one of the more underrated players of the 21st century. At his peak, he was undoubtedly the best center in all of basketball for a good five-year span. He was unfortunately snubbed for the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.
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However, it wasn’t the only time he’s been snubbed, as he detailed on the Patrick Bet-David Podcast. Howard, like many star athletes, was in line for a major shoe deal.
After being an Adidas signee out of high school due to an AAU connection, he was excited to test the market, including a meeting with Nike. His meeting did not go to plan, however.
In what was supposed to be a communication between his agent, father, and the Nike rep, talks broke down, and Howard was left without a shoe sponsor, leading to a surprising contender signing him.
“My dad was talking to Nike with my agent, and at the time, Nike said I didn’t have a personality,” remembered Howard. It’s an absurd statement, as Dwight was frequently slandered for his personality and his willingness to goof around. “That’s why I ended up going with Adidas.”
Nike never tried to poach Howard from Adidas, instead focusing their brand on Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James. The story could be similar to what Shaq faced. Shaq refused to sign with Nike after they denied his signature sneaker request, claiming big men don’t sell shoes.
Even though Howard accomplished a lot, he was never offered a signature line by a big brand. In fact, no American brand really targeted the Orlando Magic superstar. Even at the peak of his powers, it was only a Chinese brand called Peak that pursued him.
However, this experience also turned sour when the company tried to scam Howard out of millions of dollars worth of earnings. “They owe me a lot of money, but it’s a Chinese company, so you can’t really… like when something happens in the States and you have to fight it in China, you’re not gonna win that battle.”
Despite Howard’s problems with endorsements, he did end up earning around $247 million in his career, more than enough to set himself and his family up for generations to come.
Still, a big part of why Howard is so under-appreciated and forgotten historically is the failure of his team to market him as they did other stars. If Dwight were a Nike athlete, maybe he’d be rightfully credited as one of the best big men ever to play the sport.
