Dwight Howard’s Funny Reaction to James Harden’s Viral Comments

Former Philadelphia 76ers big man Dwight Howard seems to be enjoying his time outside of the NBA. As Howard struggled to find a team to bring him on throughout the 2022-2023 NBA season, the veteran big man made a shocking move to link up with the Taoyuan Leopards in the T1 League in Taiwan.

To no surprise, Howard has enjoyed his experience beyond the NBA so far and has made a bit out of going online to encourage other disgruntled NBA veterans to join him in the T1 League. And Howard’s latest recruiting attempt involves the veteran guard James Harden.

“James, stay right there; it’s a shorter flight to Taiwan,” Howard wrote on social media. “James Harden! Come on!” Howard added in a video clip, which was a follow-up reaction after watching Harden’s latest public message.

"James [Harden] stay right there it's a shorter flight to Taiwan."

—Dwight Howard 😂

(via @DwightHoward /IG)
pic.twitter.com/ngrhmm4Ddm
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 15, 2023

By now, everybody knows Harden wants to be traded away from the Philadelphia 76ers. When the ten-time All-Star picked up his player option in early July, he did it with hopes of getting traded -- specifically to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Talks were had between the Sixers and the Clippers, but no deal came to life. Last weekend, the Sixers indicated they were no longer interested in taking calls on Harden and hoped he would come to training camp ready to play for a third season in Philadelphia.

But swallowing his pride and taking the high road isn’t Harden’s strategy this offseason. Instead, he publicly shaded Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey, referring to the front office frontman as a “liar,” adding that Harden would not play for a team as long as Morey is in charge.

Considering Harden made his comments during a Q&A session out in China, Howard encouraged the star to make his way over to Taiwan instead of returning to the States. While the chances of Harden and Howard teaming up outside of the NBA for the first time since their playing days in Houston are slim, Harden did recently hint that playing over in China is not totally out of the question recently.

“Every time I come here, the love is just like … it’s crazy, you know what I mean?” Harden said recently, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “So I feel like they deserve to actually see me come play here. … Love is always crazy here.”

Perhaps, Harden will take his talents to the courts in China later on in his career. For the time being, he’s trying to expand his NBA resume to further his legacy before putting an end to his Hall of Fame career. While Harden expressed tons of interest in picking up his first NBA title win in Philadelphia, the former MVP is set on getting his way and getting traded for the third time in four seasons.