Dwight Howard, who turns 33 in December, will be entering his 15th year in the NBA this season but he's still looking to improve his game and has no plans of hanging 'em up any time soon.
In a story by The Washington Post's Candace Buckner, one of Howard's trainers, Ed Downs, relayed that the veteran center told him last year that he hopes to play until he's 40. Downs and Howard's other trainer, Justin Zormelo, also noted that the Wizards' big man has lost 20 lbs and dropped more than 9% body fat this off-season.
In addition to the physical transformation, Zormelo revealed that Howard has added to his offensive repertoire and has aspirations to evolve into "his own version" of Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant.
“He wants to evolve into Anthony Davis, into Kevin Durant,” Zormelo said, according to Buckner. “But his own version of that.”
Buckner took to twitter after that quote was pulled from her story, clarifying that Zormelo simply told her Dwight wants to take from other players, and doesn't really think he's KD. "He just wants to evolve into what the NBA is now while still being himself," Buckner tweeted.
Howard signed with the Washington Wizards this summer after reaching a buyout with the Brooklyn Nets, who had acquired him in June as part of a trade with the Charlotte Hornets. He averaged 16.6 points, 12.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game for the Hornets last season, which are his best numbers since his All-Star season as a member of the Houston Rockets in 2013-14. The Wizards will be the fourth team Howard has played for in as many seasons.