Looking Back at Dwight Howard’s Rockets Tenure as He Enters the Hall of Fame

As the NBA offseason carries into the final stage, the league will once again be welcoming another class of inductees into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The 2025 class is highlighted by former Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard, who gets his nod into the Hall of Fame after retiring in 2022.

Howard was recently presented with his jacket and ring before his enshrinement on Sept. 6. The 49-year-old is in a class with elite company, such as Carmelo Anthony, Billy Donovan and the 2008 Olympics ‘Redeem Team.’

Howard becomes yet another star who played for the Rockets to enter the Hall of Fame. Although he didn’t have his best years in Houston, the three seasons he spent there were memorable for multiple reasons.

From 2013 to 2016, Howard averaged 16 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. His peak Rockets season came in 2013-14, when he put up 18.3 points, 12.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. He made an All-Star appearance, All-NBA team and finished seventh in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

During those years, the 6-foot-10 center played next to James Harden as he emerged into superstardom. When the two were at their best, the duo was one of the best in the league.

Unfortunately, toward the end of Howard’s Houston tenure, there were rumors and reports that the two had a tough time meshing. One 2015 report even suggested that Howard didn’t want to play alongside Harden anymore.

In 2014, the Rockets suffered a brutal first-round exit at the hands of a Damian Lillard buzzer-beater that is still remembered today. However, Houston would come back with a vengeance in 2015, making it all the way to the Western Conference Finals before falling to the eventual champion Golden State Warriors.

2016, Howard’s final season with the team, would see the Rockets lose to the Warriors, again, this time in the first round. Through all of the rumors that Harden and Howard were beefing, the 2025 Hall-of-Fame inductee would ultimately sign with the Atlanta Hawks, leaving Houston.

While his time with the Rockets wasn’t always pretty, Howard was the sidekick to Harden on multiple playoff teams. When the pairing worked out, Howard looked like the costar Harden needed to win a championship. That didn’t end up coming to fruition, but it was a much-needed era of Rockets basketball that came after years of struggling.