Dwight Howard in crossfire after posting (and quickly removing) political tweet

Dwight Howard found himself in the midst of a heated social media debate when a political message was posted -- and then quickly un-posted on the NBA player's Twitter account. 

A tweet that said simply "#FreePalestine" was posted on the Houston Rockets center's account on Saturday afternoon. 

Here is a screen grab of the message:

That post was quickly removed from the feed shortly thereafter, and Howard said it was "a mistake": 

But the un-posted tweet continued to echo through the Twitterverse, inciting a maelstrom of commentary on all sides of the political spectrum.