Ex-teammate of Dwight Howard, Frenchman Mickaël Piétrus cash: “The guy was…

Having spent no less than a decade on the floors of the big league, Mickaël Piétrus had his best years with the Magic. At that time, a certain Dwight Howard was establishing himself as a real juggernaut on the courts. Questioned by the First Teamthe Frenchman was honest on the pivot.

Today, his name inspires regret but also mockery, to the great dismay of his fans. Exiled from the NBA for more than a year, Dwight Howard is unlikely to ever play in the big league again. Even his trial with the Warriors should not result in a final contract in the US before hanging up, the pivot now being 37 years old. A sad end to such a great player.

Because whether we like the character or not, his attitude has often been a problem, D12 was one of the best pivots of the 21st century and even seemed set to destroy everything for a time. It was at the Magic that the interior was the most unstoppable, between his draft in 2005 and his departure for Los Angeles in 2012. Here again, a bitter end which should not eclipse the man’s maddening production in Florida .

Mickaël Piétrus’ honest opinion on Dwight Howard

More than 18 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks per game in eight seasons: these are Howard’s averages when he played in Orlando. Undisputed No. 1 in the league at his position during these years, he was squarely in the conversation for the MVP since thanks to him, his franchise had become a strong place in the Eastern Conference. Teammate of the superstar for a time, Mickaël Piétrus recently addressed his case with the First Team :

When I arrive at the Magic, I arrive in the sun, I say to myself: “I am in the West Indies here”. I didn’t even think about Dwight Howard, I said to myself: “There’s the beach, so is that basketball?” Ok, I’m coming. » I arrive in front of a guy, a post, his name is Dwight Howard, and then it was the image of the league, and so I said to myself: “Okay, we’re going to try to train together and try to do something “.

The least we can say is that the method worked. Thanks to the horseshoe system developed by coach Stan Van Gundy and which used Superman as an anchor, the Magic even went as far as the Finals in 2009, completely eliminating the Cavs by a certain LeBron James. Above all, Air France remembers an excellent atmosphere in the group, contrary to the rumors about Howard subsequently:

We got along really well. There were no egos on the court, it wasn’t “my shoot, my shoot”, we wanted to play basketball like grown-ups. For me, that’s team spirit. We went to eat together, we did everything together. Well, after a few years they decided to blow up the team and it was never the same again.

For a long time, Dwight Howard was considered a capricious player and a bad teammate, but according to Mickaël Piétrus, that was not necessarily the case in Orlando. Fortunately for the pivot, he was at least able to secure a championship ring in 2020 with the Lakers, thus crowning his immense career.