Dwight Howard’s alleged sexual assault case from July 2023 dismissed: All we know so far
In July 2023, Dwight Howard found himself facing allegations of sexual assault. A year later, the result of the case has finally come out.
This situation began in 2021 when Howard and a man named Stephen Harper began exchanging messages online. The two eventually ended up meeting at the former NBA big man's house in Atlanta. Harper then accused Howard of sexually assaulting him.
A year after Harper first filed the suit against Dwight Howard, a report from ESPN emerged that he dropped all charges against him. That said, Harper can never file another lawsuit against Howard with the same claims in the same county court again.
"Stephen Harper, who filed the lawsuit against Howard in July 2023, dismissed all claims he asserted against the former NBA player with prejudice, which means Harper cannot refile a suit on those same claims against Howard in Gwinnett County Court."
Howard has been out of the NBA for two years now. He last made an appearance in the league in 2022, when he played in 60 games for the LA Lakers.
The eight-time All-Star has said on numerous occasions that he wants one more run in the league before he retires. However, he has not received any offer from an NBA team. Since departing the NBA, Howard has continued playing professionally in Taiwan.
Dwight Howard denied allegations of sexual assault from the start
From the moment the allegations were first made against Dwight Howard, he denied that any sexual assault happened. According to Howard, everything that happened between him and Harper at his home was consensual. After more than a year, he can now put the whole situation behind him.
In one of the initial hearings for the case, Howard's attorneys claimed that the case had little merit. They felt Harper's claims were overstated, and that he hid text messages between him and Howard.
"In short, the totality of the text messages between Mr. Howard and Mr. Harper make it abundantly clear that Mr. Harper's claims are frivolous, that he was a willing participant in the events of July 19, 2021, and the early morning hours of July 20, 2021, and that the touching of his person had been invited by him," Howard's attorneys wrote in Thursday's filing.
Before getting caught up in sexual assault allegations, Howard was one of the NBA's best centers. After being drafted first overall by the Orlando Magic in 2004, he was named to eight All-NBA Teams and won the Defensive Player of the Year award three times.
Even with this case in his rearview now, it remains unlikely that Howard will achieve his goal of making it back to the NBA.