After wearing No. 12 throughout his entire NBA career, Dwight Howard has chosen a different jersey number as he begins a new chapter with the Atlanta Hawks. He said after signing with the Hawks that his new number would be deeply significant, and the No. 8 he chose is clearly just that.
In an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show” Friday, Howard opened up about why he decided to make a change.
“Well, I’ve had No. 12 my whole life and I just felt like I needed a change. I wanted something different,” he said, as transcribed by Colby Giacubeno of Fansided. “I wanted to come in with a different mentality. A different me. And you know, the No. 8 has a lot of great meanings and the one that stood out was the new beginning and new life.
“It’s just so ironic that my birthday is December 8th and you know, I was supposed to be dead. My mom lost seven kids and I was supposed to be the eighth one and I ended up being the eighth one that lived out of all the ones that passed away. So it has some significance in my life.”
Howard is entering the twilight of his career and wants to put some of his recent disappointing seasons in the rearview. He spoke more about what is motivating him right after he signed with the Hawks. That mentality coupled with a meaningful new jersey number has Howard feeling refreshed.
