Dwight Howard responded publicly to allegations of being a deadbeat dad.
Howard is said to have five children by five different women. One of the mothers died earlier this year, leading to a difficult time for Howard emotionally. Two of the mothers recently called out Howard. One of those two mothers, Royce Reed, has a long history of negative back-and-forth issues with the Los Angeles Lakers center.
Reed’s son Braylon even filmed a video calling out Howard for being an absentee father.
There are two sides to every story, and the Lakers center called into WHUR’s “The Frank Ski Show with Nina Brown” this week to share his side.
Howard said that one of his sons lives with him now. Howard believes that him taking care of that son is proof he is not a deadbeat.
“One of my sons’ mom passed away earlier this year. I was given the responsibility to have my son with me full-time. He has really changed my life. … we did everything together,” Howard said.
“A lot of the stuff that’s being said, I hate it. I’ve always been a great father. Is there areas of improvement? Of course, just like there’s areas in life and basketball and anything I do — I can always get better.”
Howard talked about the allegations from son Braylon.
“The situation with my other son is unfortunate that a lot of stuff has been made public,” Howard said.
Howard says that before the NBA season restarted, he spent a lot of time with Braylon.
The 34-year-old emphasized that he will not air dirty laundry publicly. He laments that some of the mothers have taken that route.
