One of Dwight Howard’s children made headlines recently when he exposed how fraught his relationship with his NBA star father actually was. Braylon, 12, went into great detail about his issues with Howard during a recent session on Instagram.
“As of right now, I hate you,” he said. “And I’m not saying this because someone told me to. I actually hate you. You don’t talk to me at all. Once Laylah gets as old as me, she’s going to feel the same way. We made you a Roadblocks account so you could play with us when you were in Atlanta and we’re here. Do you ever play on it? No. You don’t ever play with us.
“The only time you play with us is when we’re with you and that’s rarely when we’re with you. Every time we go to the house, we’re always be [with] Momma V. All of our [other] parents have said we don’t need a nanny.”
Dwight Howard son speaks out after being neglected 😣 pic.twitter.com/kkR0UXRJzf
— soseriuzradio (@soseriuzradio) October 25, 2020
This week, Howard came out and responded to his son’s claims by suggesting that he had always been a great father.
“I’m not the person to get online or go through the media and bash anybody,” he said during an appearance on Frank Ski Radio Show. “The only thing I will address is the issue of anybody thinking I’m a deadbeat father. Currently, I have a child with me now. My son lives with me. There’s no way I could be a deadbeat dad if I have a son that lives with me. The situation with my other son, it’s unfortunate that a lot of things have been made public.
The beef is real. https://t.co/R7VdyWaJT8
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 28, 2020
“But even before this season started back up, he lived with me for three months. He stayed in my house, we woke up every morning, we worked out together, we ran together, we ate together. We did everything together. I followed me around the whole house. It was the most time me and have spent like that.
“A lot of things that are being said, I hate that it’s our own people making it seem as though I’m somebody that I’m not. I’ve always been a great father. Is there areas of improvement? Of course, just like there is in life, with basketball, in anything that I do,” Howard continued.
“I’ve never been that type of person. I lost one of my son’s mom…passed away earlier this year. I was given the responsibility to have my son with me full time. And he really has changed my life. He was one of the biggest reasons why I was able to go out there and help this team win the championship. There’s no way I could be this person that people say I am.”
Fans weren’t shy about how they looked. https://t.co/VEgkGVevr3
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 27, 2020
Howard was then pressed on whether he had reached out to Braylon since the youngster’s comments went viral.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t,” he replied. “It’s a lot of things that are going on, but it’s personal. I’d rather keep that side out.”
When asked if he had any messages for Braylon, Howard offered up just one: things will get better.
“No matter what is going on, I love my son. I would never disrespect his mom. One day, we’ll be able to get past this toxicity and realize that we’re living in a day now where they’re kill off a lot of our Black men. And I don’t want anything to ever happen to my son.
The J.J. Watt Era is over in Houston. https://t.co/shYT8XnQSb
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 28, 2020
“He’s too precious. His voice is great. He has a great mind. He’s spiritually inclined and I don’t want none of his life being taken away by toxic behavior from anybody. I love him to death, he knows that. He’ll always know that. Braylon has had the best life he can possibly have. He’s gone to the best schools. I’ve been a provider for him.
“Anything that he’s ever needed or wanted, he’s always had…We just have to be able to change our mindset, how we speak, how we act and how we treat each other,” he continued.
“So instead of me responding out of hate, I’m going to keep responding out of love. It’s too much hate and negativity.”
All in all – this situation sounds extremely messy and unfortunate. It seems like Howard understands his son’s issues with him, but it is unclear whether anything will be done to repair the damage done to the relationship.
At some point the parents involved need to sit down, hash things out and then focus their attention on ensuring that the children who have been roped into their squabbles end up okay.
Will that actually end up happening? Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
