Dwight Howard is the topic of conversation after posting a controversial video on his Instagram that has his followers split over his parenting style. The former NBA player posted clips of him working out and engaging in activities with his children.
In one slide, Howard is seen coaching his son, David, through an intense session on an exercise bike. David is Howard’s youngest child with ex-girlfriend Melissa Rios. Rios passed away in 2020 due to an epileptic seizure.
The 9-year-old is frantically peddling on the bike in the video, crying, “I can’t! I can’t! It’s too hard!”
The three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year begins to continuously tap the boy on the chest and yell out, “You can! Let’s go.”
The video continues with the boy, exhausted, continuously telling his father that he “can’t do it” and “it’s too hard.” David’s tears do not deter Howard as he continues to push the boy through the strenuous exercise.
Uring him to “go hard on the last set,” David peddles on the bike again as his father watches on. He finishes and quickly gets off the machine as Howard tells him, “Good job.”
“In the process of being GREAT it’s going to be laughs, frowns, smiles, tears, blood, and sweat but that’s what is needed for us to succeed as individuals and also collectively as a family 🙏🏾I’m just teaching my kids what it means to be resilient, to be determined and to have discipline,” the 37-year-old athlete captioned the video.
The father of five continued, “Every day is a battle and some battles are going to be harder to win than others, but we have to fight them until we WIN!And if we WIN the day every day we’ll never lose in the end ! We have to finish every mission we begin and follow through. That’s the most important part ! Never say you can’t! Remember Philippians 4:13 🤔”
Howard ended the caption with some encouragement.
“YOU CAN and you will! Just follow through. That’s how you be Great 🙏🏾” he wrote.
Some viewers were all for Howard’s tough love approach.
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“Thats called TEACHING and challenging his mental fortitude he didn’t DIE you wanna be Great You Gotta EARN IT ‼️ You want to be MEDIOCRE you do exactly what everybody else in this thread is doing COMPLAINING,” said one fan.
“Everybody needs to be pushed like that at least once to show them that it’s their mind giving up not their body,” commented another.
Fellow former NBA player Gilbert Arenas shared his view.
“🔥🔥🔥🔥 saying i can’t but still going means he can’t (STOP) becuz he wants that burn,” he said.
However, some viewers saw his methods as borderline traumatizing.
“This doesn’t make DH father of the year. This is torture,” one follower stated.
One outraged viewer said, “This is disgusting to watch and to think I used to be a DH fan.”
Another claimed it was simply “child abuse.” Howard has four other children from previous relationships. His oldest son is 15-year-old Braylon Howard from former Orlando Magic cheerleader and Basketball Wives star Royce Reed. He has a 12-year-old daughter Layla Howard with ex Tiffany Render. He has another 12-year-old daughter Jayde Howard with fitness model Hope Alexa and a 10-year-old son, Darren “Trey” Howard with his ex Christine Vest. Trey was born just six months before David.
Howard has been noted as one of the NBA’s best centers of all time. He began his professional basketball career in 2004 with the Orlando Magic. He was one of the team’s premier players for eight years before heading to the Lakers in 2012.
Howard was traded throughout the league multiple times before his final season in 2021, with a third stint with LA. His time as a Laker in 2020 earned him his first NBA Championship. Howard returned to basketball in 2022 with the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League in Taiwan.
