Eight-time NBA All Star Dwight Howard on Sunday said he would not give up on the Taoyuan Leopards or allow his teammates to give up on each other after their 10th consecutive defeat set a T1 League record.
“They’ve always talked about me, said: ‘I wasn’t going to be this, I wasn’t going to be that,’ and I’m here today because I’ve never let anyone stop me from doing and being what I believe,” Howard said after the Leopards’ 87-101 defeat to defending champions the Kaohsiung Aquas at Kaohsiung Arena.
The former NBA star posted a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds, with four assists and one block in 26 minutes, 45 seconds of court time.
Photo courtesy of the Taoyuan Leopards via CNA
“And we are going to take that same mentality as a team, and we’re going to fight through this, we’re not going to give up,” he said.
Taoyuan, which Howard joined in November last year, have struggled this season, falling to the bottom of the six-team league standings with a 1-11 record. They are eight wins behind leaders New Taipei CTBC DEA.
Their only win was Howard’s league debut on Nov. 19, played at home at National Taiwan Sport University’s multipurpose arena against the visiting DEA. Howard has since played six games for the Leopards.
Despite their performance, Howard remained determined to get his team out of the losing slump.
“I’ve come from the hardest situations and been on top, so we’re going to do that here. We believe in each other, and we won’t stop believing no matter what and I believe in my teammates,” Howard said.
The season is halfway through and the odds are against the team, but he said Taoyuan could still mount a comeback.
“We know that everything is not going to go our way, and sometimes it might be a double standard with how the games [are] called, but this is where we got to rise above every situation that we have. Everything we have been through as a team is a test of our will and our character, and how strong we can be mentally,” he said.
Howard, who turned 37 last month, was the first overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft, and went on to become an eight-time All-Star and three-time Defensive Player of the Year. He also won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2019-2020 season.
The Leopards are to play the Taichung Suns in an away game at National Taiwan University of Sport on Feb. 5.
Also on Sunday, the Tainan TSG Ghosthawks beat the Taiwan Beer Herobears 105-102 at Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science’s Shao Tsung Gymnasium.
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