Former NBA star Dwight Howard recently shared an interesting idea on social media about serving in the United States military.
The eight-time NBA All-Star posted on X that he believes serving in the military should be mandatory for every person who is born in the United States.
Howard called for the president to make it so that everyone must serve.
"Random. I honestly feel like the president should make one year of service mandatory for everyone born in America,“ Dwight Howard said. ”A lot of other countries do it. And I think it would help with discipline and structure. I’m curious what y’all think, would this help America or nah."
Needless to say, not many people were a fan of the idea.
"America is a ‘free’ nation for a reason… No!" one poster replied.
Another added: "Other countries do it for security reasons or they need the manpower. Either they face constant threats of attack or they’re small and can’t field a military with only volunteers.
“We have neither. No country on Earth forces military service to just ‘build discipline.’”
The post from Dwight Howard has more than 6,600 replies and has reached nearly 3 million people as of Tuesday, Jan. 6.
Howard, a former No. 1 overall pick of the Orlando Magic, spent 18 seasons in the NBA, playing for the Magic, Lakers, Rockets, Hawks, Hornets, Wizards and 76ers.
He averaged 15.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game for his career, helping the Lakers to an NBA title in 2020.
In addition to being an eight-time NBA All-Star, Howard was also named first-team All-NBA five times and is a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner.