Dwight Howard was a sensational force in the NBA when he made it to the league in 2004 with Orlando Magic. The Los Angeles Lakers center was known for his fierce and dominating game on the court until 2010. Howard also led Orlando to a conference finals victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who LeBron James spearheaded in 2009. Dwight received mountains of praises from analysts and fans for his dominating game on the NBA court. He was often compared to one of the greatest players, Shaquille O\’Neal.
Unfortunately, things began to go downhill for Dwight when he came to Kobe Bryant\’s Lakers during the 2012-13 season. The 8-time NBA All-Star was under immense performance pressure, which resulted in a major dip in his performance. However, the prime reason behind Howard losing his grip on the ball was his addiction to junk food, which almost derailed his prominent career.
Dwight Howard Was Addicted To Sugar & Ate 5000 Calories Per Day
Things began to fall apart for Dwight Howard when he joined the Lakers. Howard degraded to missing simple pick and roll finishes from dominating the court and acing slam dunk competitions. The reason behind his poor performance finally surfaced in 2012, when Dwight had a panic attack during a training session. His hands and feet started to shake, and his behavior changed dramatically. After the incident, Dwight called his nutritionist, who was shocked after hearing about Howard\’s diet. The Lakers center confessed to having a Skittle and Honey Bun addiction. He ate around 4-5 Honey Buns per day.
Further, Dwight also revealed at Graham Singer Show that his routine was to eat at McDonald\’s before every match. Everyone was shocked when the 36-year-old shared his huge McDonald\’s order. Dwight used to eat two double cheeseburgers, a large and a small fries, a strawberry chocolate shake, and a large coke. Howard became so fond of junk food that he had a Skittles machine installed at his house.
Meanwhile, the 2020 NBA champion\’s nutritionist disclosed that Dwight used to consume around 5000 calories per day which is nearly equal to 24 candy bars. However, there came the point when Howard was forced to choose between his NBA career and his junk food addiction. Fortunately, he managed to get over his addiction significantly. He returned to the LeBron James-led Lakers during the 2019-20 season and contributed to the franchise\’s championship victory in 2020. After playing with Philadelphia for a season, Dwight Howard came back to LA in 2021 and is currently a part of their roster.