Dwight Howard Comes Out of Retirement to Join Georgian Club Black Fortress
At 40, former NBA star Dwight Howard has announced he is coming out of retirement to join Georgian club Black Fortress Tbilisi next month, following a brief retirement.
Dwight Howard Comes Out of Retirement to Join Georgian Club
Dwight Howard is continuing his unusual global basketball journey. The 40-year-old center, one of the most dominant players of his generation and the number one overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft, has announced he will join the Black Fortress Tbilisi next month. The team is newly promoted to Georgia's top-tier league, coming just half a year after Howard announced his retirement from active play.
Howard broke the news of his new destination using a play on words related to his birthplace. "Georgia, I'm coming!" he wrote on social media. "And I don't mean my hometown of Atlanta. Wait for October, when together with Black Fortress we'll light up the hardwood." Contract details, including its length and salary, have not yet been disclosed.
A Surprising Return to the Court
The move is particularly surprising given that Howard announced his retirement only on March 12 of this year. The announcement came two days after he filed for divorce from his wife, Amber Rose Howard, at which time he explained that he wanted to direct his energy toward his family and communities around the world. However, he also made it clear then that he still felt he "had more to give" and that players of his age continuing to play had inspired him.
This will be the latest stop in an extraordinary international journey since his last NBA game with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2022. Since then, Howard has played in Taiwan, participated in a tournament in Dubai, returned to play in Asia, and tried his hand in the BIG3 league in the United States. Now, a little less than two years after being mentioned as a candidate for Hapoel Tel Aviv, he is arriving in Georgia to bolster a team that recently won the second-division championship and earned promotion to the top league.
Howard entered the Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2025. During his NBA career, he was an eight-time All-Star, a five-time All-NBA selection, and a three-time Defensive Player of the Year. In addition, he led the league in rebounds five times and blocks twice, and in 2009 he carried Orlando to the NBA Finals. He won his only championship ring in 2020 with the Lakers.
