News that Dwight Howard will sign with 76ers breaks shortly after he deletes tweet announcing return to Lakers

Yet another awkward moment due to some communication mishap has occurred in the realm of NBA free agency — if you consider the botched Bogdan Bogdanovic sign-and-trade as the first incident. This one involves Dwight Howard and the Los Angeles Lakers.

A bit after 7 p.m. ET, Howard tweeted that he was going to remain a Laker, an announcement that Shams Charania and Bobby Marks seemed to confirm through his Twitter itself. But just a few minutes later, Howard and Charania both deleted their tweets, with The Athletic NBA Insider posting an update to the Howard situation. Turns out there was no deal in place to actually announce.

It’s not entirely clear what could have led to the tweet being deleted. Howard made his announcement over an hour after the free agency period began, so it’s not like this could have been a concern regarding tampering. Whatever the reason, one thing is clear: this is deeply hilarious. 

The good news is that eventually Howard did find a new home in free agency, just not the one he originally announced.

The Lakers were Howard’s fifth team in five seasons after he bounced around the league with only lackluster seasons to show for his team in places like Atlanta, Charlotte and Washington. While he didn’t have a huge statistical bounce back, taking a bench role with Los Angeles, he played a significant role in the Lakers’ championship run this past season.