DWTS Rehearsals with Dwight Howard & Daniella Karagach

What's up, guys? Leslie Robbins here. Young Hollywood is back at Dancing With the Stars rehearsal. It is season 33, and this time, I'm going toe-to-toe with an NBA champion. Dwight and Danny, Double D team, Double D in the house. Yep. Actually, it's almost like Team Triple D, dancing, Danny, Dwight. Triple D. Talk about first impressions. When you first met all 6'11 of Mr. Dwight Howard.

NBA champion this man. He's tall, bro. I literally could not control my emotions. I was like, he is so tall. He's literally the tallest person I've ever worked with.

And she's really, really short.

5'3. Yeah. I'm fun-sized, first of all. Let's get that straight. She's a giant on the dance floor.

What dance move works for such a tall gentleman and what dance move doesn't really work?

Anything side-by-side works. Anything in frame is very difficult to do.

That's not bad. I mean, it's not bad for us. I mean, we do an amazing job. But like, my frame is usually like this.

Yeah. And mine is here, so.

So what do we do about that?

So we make it work. We make it work. We got to make it work.

And we made it work. It's amazing.

So, being an NBA champion, how does that champion mindset translate to the ballroom?

Well, I think it's the mindset that I've had my entire life, not just something that you know, happened when I got to the NBA. It was just the championship mentality that I had from a child. Um, and I think Danielle's been the same way. She's been training in her respective field and art since she was a child. And it's carried her way through. She knows no other way to be great. And it's the same thing with basketball. You know, I've been doing this for so long. It's just ingrained in my head, my heart, like, this is what I have to do to be successful.

So what is that mindset from prep to It's a spirit. when when the cameras start rolling in?

It's a spirit. It's like, it's like the energy. It's it's in you. It just like, it just lets you know. It guides you what to do when you're out there on the floor. Like it flows with you. And when you have that spirit with you, it's just like, ah! You let it flow. It's like, that's what they call it, the art. You know, you're letting that spirit flow through you. And it's talking to everyone in the audience. And they're like, wow. Look at that.

I mean, how does doing that in front of fans of Dancing With the Stars differ from playing basketball for millions and millions of people?

It's honestly almost the same.

Wow.

I think because basketball is like the most intimate sport.

Why?

Because we don't have caps on or masks or anything like that. And we're so close to the audience, you know, so people are like really, they can see our facial features, our emotions, what we're going through. And it's like on the dance floor. You know, everybody can see us. We can hear everybody on the outside. So it's the same. It's crazy.

And you have the moves. Like, there's no doubt about it. Where did that come from?

I got it from my mama.

Oh. Yeah. I mean, did you guys have dance parties growing up or what?

We did. My mama was a big dancer. We always used to do the electric slide. And no lie. My senior year in high school. This is a true story. Yeah. I woke up at 4:00 every morning and I worked out. So my first thing was the cha-cha slide to kind of wake my body up every day. And then I would go to the track, run, go play basketball after that, train, and then go to school. And that was my my morning routine every day.

You started dancing, then basketball. So you're almost meant to be here.

It's crazy. I've always wanted to be on Dancing With the Stars. This is the third time. So far, it's been great. Every person that I've met, my partner has been really good. She's tough. But I enjoy tough.

Well, here's the thing. She's been with an NBA champion before and won the Mirrorball Trophy with that champion before. So I feel like you're in good hands. What's the secret sauce to guiding a basketball champion to the Mirrorball Trophy?

The secret is just him not losing himself in the process. He's such a big personality that I want us to stay true to what he's all about, but learn as we go. So have a base and put Dwight on top of the base.

Okay, we're going to dance now. So we're doing a paso doble, right? Oh. So in this dance, it's a real fierce, like, strong, like in this dance you're always up. You know why? Because you're fighting a bull, right? Yeah. And so in this bull fight, you want to make sure that everything you do is sharp because you don't want the bull to pop you. Now, the first step that we're going to do is to the right this way here. Then we're going to take our step and go here. Yes. And then, pop. Yes. Now we're going to go the other way. Step and pop. You got that? Boom, boom, boom. Got that? Boom, boom, boom. Now you have to do it with the cape. Oh, thank you. Now remember, yeah. You are guiding the bull. Boom. So the bull, we're going to do another one after this one, but in this one you're making sure that bull doesn't. Yeah. Get out of the way, bull. I'm going to be the bull on this one. Okay, deal with me? I'm the bull. Oh, no. Get your feet right. Let me see your feet. This is exciting. Okay. Together. Give me a good stance. There we go. Strong. There we go. Now remember, you can't smile on this one. You got to be strong. There we go. Now, you got to hold that. There we go. Hold it firm. Cuz that bull's going to try to gore you. Gore. You don't want the bull. There we go. Ba-pow. Yes. Ba-pow. Good job. Woo, yes. Give me two more. One more. Yes. Great job. What you're going to do is, you're going to be here. And then you're going to reveal and come over the top. Come back down. Over the top. To the side. Yes. Fast. Yes. All the way up. Bring it up and around. Yes. Oh, my gosh. Queen. Now introducing with her partner. Rick James. Doing paso doble. Now you turn to the side. And you're going to reveal me. Wa-lah. Reveal me. Now do it. Keep going. Wa-lah. Wa-lah. Now. That's good. Now give me a high five for that. High five. Ooh. Yeah. She, right? That's a real high five. I don't think you can get it. Oh, Lord, you was close. Good try. You had the cape. You should have put the cape on. Oh, wait, we didn't even explain the hair. Oh, my hair. Why are you wearing the wig? Oh, so it's Hair and Metal Night. Yes. Coming up. Yes. And, um, Rick James is one of my favorite characters. Okay. And, uh, I had to go do some videos and pictures today. It's amazing. Like Rick James. I'm Rick James. Rick. All right, let's do one final dip for today. A dip. A dip. He he got you. You're in good hands. He's got you. You're like All-State. You're like All-State. I'm Dwight State. So what you're going to do is when I when when you dip, I dip. We dip. What? Now, that's a song. No worries. So we dip. I'm sorry. Spin out. Go down. Dip. Go back. There we go. Wow. Yeah. There we go. Come back out. Great job. Give it up for everyone. Take a bow. Take a bow. There we are.

One quick question. Yes. What size are the dance shoes?

17.

How?

17. 17, baby. Mine too. See, we're size 17 in houses. In babies.