Dwight Howard is ready to make the jump to pro wrestling as soon at makes sense.
That could be soon. The 36-year-old and eight-time All-Star has played for seven NBA teams (including the Los Angeles Lakers three times) but currently finds himself a free agent. He expressed his interest in trying his hand at WWE last month after attending a tryout in Nashville, explaining that he simply wanted the chance to train at wrestling and do it right.
The unsaid part was that he wouldn’t be able to devote himself to that pursuit as long as he was still playing basketball, but if no one signs him — and the NBA season is now less than a month away — maybe this would be the time. Howard seemed open to the idea of a career switch soon in a recent interview with TMZ, saying that if it came down to choosing between WWE and the NBA, he go with “Whatever opportunity is best.”
WWE appears to have mutual interest, with Paul “Triple H” Levesque telling The Sporting News that if the big man is willing to put in the work that other performers from outside the industry have shown, he’s welcome to give it a shot.
“All he’s gotta do is call me, and we’ll see what can happen,” Levesque said. “And if he’s willing to put in the grind and the drive that guys like Logan Paul, and Bad Bunny and Tyson Fury are willing to put in, then let’s go.”
Considering the work it takes to remain a top level NBA player for years, Howard shouldn’t have too much of a problem living up to that end of the deal. Whether he can be consistently entertaining would be the real question, but there’s no doubt it would attract a lot of interest from sports fans who don’t regularly watch wrestling if he decides to take Levesque up on the offer and make that call.