Dwight Howard: 'I tweeted Free Palestine. Less than 10 minutes later, I got a call from the NBA commissioner'

Dwight Howard: But when you’re in the NBA, there are a lot of things you want to say, but you know if you say them, there will be repercussions. You could get into a lot of trouble. For example, a couple of years ago when I played for the Houston Rockets, I tweeted “Free Palestine,” and I almost got kicked out of the league for it. I was just trying to figure out why. Before that, I had spoken with some Palestinians who told me about the struggles in their country. I actually went to the movies one day in Houston, and a group of Palestinians approached me. They said, “Hey man, we’re big fans of you. Can we watch the movie with you?” I was like, “Cool.” When I was in Houston—or even in Orlando and other cities I played in—I would take fans to movies, to Main Event, or to events at Dave & Buster's. After the movie, we took pictures, and they asked me to bring awareness to what was going on in their country. Me, having a big heart, thought, "This is the Christian thing to do." So, I tweeted “Free Palestine.” Less than 10 minutes later, I got a call from the NBA commissioner, agents, people in my foundation, and even folks from Texas, telling me to take it down. They said, “You’re going to get into trouble. You need to delete this tweet.” I was like, “What did I do that was so bad? Can somebody explain this to me?”

Source: YouTube

More on this storyline

Two big men were chirping at each other for years, but their dispute was revived once again after Howard's appearance on The Gauds Show. "I hated the most is the fact that he always thought I was trying to be him or be like him," Howard said a couple of days ago. "But again, if I wanted to be you or be like him, shouldn't you take that as a compliment and show how great you are as a player and a person?" Nevertheless, it looked like Howard was ready to end a long feud with Shaq. "All right, Shaq, I just never disrespected. But he's always had something to say, and you know there are times where I got enough, and I'm like, yo Shaq just gotta stop," Howard continued. -via BasketNews / January 7, 2025

"I know you care. Cuz yo insecure ass been hating and talking shit for 20 years," Howard replied. "You too big to be this insecure. I hope you don't bring my name up again. 52 years old tweeting me. And still hating. Now all this time you was joking. You always been jealous." "Jealous of Kobe, penny, dwayde. You jealous of Charles too. Go move around big lazy insecure ass. I still have that long 5 Paragraph direct message you sent me a couple years ago telling me that I'm not that great to hate. And you still doing it. It's 2025 grow the hell up. and move on," Howard added. -via BasketNews / January 7, 2025

However, Shaq overheard what Howard had to say and responded, claiming he didn't care about the former Orlando Magic star. "Dwight Howard, the fact u think I care about u is funny, but I won't ever bring your name up again sensitive big man, a jokester that can't take a joke. Won't ever say your name again ever again. Have a great day, and now u have been deleted. Have a great day," Shaq wrote on X. -via BasketNews / January 7, 2025

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Dwight Howard: 'I tweeted Free Palestine. Less than 10 minutes later, I got a call from the NBA commissioner'