It's no surprise that NBA players earn multi-million dollar paychecks each year, with the best of them ranking among the highest-paid athletes in the world. Dwight Howard was no exception, amassing $240 million in salaries alone over his 18-year NBA career.
Naturally, with such wealth, D12 had high aspirations for investing his fortune wisely and accomplishing his dream of becoming a franchise owner. However, things took a turn for the worse when $7 million was stolen from Dwight during his pursuit of purchasing the WNBA's Atlanta Dream.
Howard on how he felt after the $7 million theft
In a recent episode of his podcast, the three-time DPOY highlighted how he entrusted $7 million to a group of individuals he believed to be the faces of the Dream organization when he was looking to buy into the team. Since D12 was still playing in the NBA at the time, he wasn't allowed to own a team outright. Consequently, Howard decided to run operations behind the scenes while others served as its faces.
Over time, 'Superman' realized that communications with these individuals had ceased, and they had bought the team without him. Heartbroken, since he had already promised his mother about buying her season tickets and sending her apparel from the WNBA franchise he intended to own, Howard shared his frustration against those who had wronged him.
"$7 million… it was a part of my agent. That one hurt. What was my mental (state)? My mental was I wanted to find him and beat the hell out of him. Like, I wanted to kill him. It was like a group of people that was all in it together, " Howard said .
"My plan that I had was, I was looking to buy the Atlanta Dream. The basketball team for women. So I was like, man, I wanna really do this 'cause I got two daughters. One day they're gonna wanna play basketball. I can set it up to where they can play for the Atlanta Dream one day when they get older," Dwight added.
While D12 was understandably upset, the eight-time All-Star was even more hurt when his trusted agent sided with the group and continually lied to him.
"I really trusted this agent because he was my agent, so he has a duty to tell the truth and be honest with me, but these agents and lawyers, all they be scheming and lying," Howard added. "They got the same motive - to take from you."
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Dwight learned a lot from that instance
Having witnessed someone take such a ruthless advantage of him and his wealth, Howard learned his lesson quickly. The big man made sure to teach his children that, in today's world, no one cares about how hard you've worked or what aspirations you hold. Instead, people will step on you and walk away without a second thought.
Ultimately, in March 2023, Dwight's former agent was arrested on felony charges. Court documents revealed that the culprit had used Howard's hard-earned money to fund his own purchases. Fortunately, this wasn't the end of D12's ownership dreams. Ultimately, the 2020 NBA Champ became part of the Taiwanese Basketball League's Taiwan Mustangs.
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