NBA star Dwight Howard busted his ass getting ready for "The Masked Singer" ... taking singing and dancing lessons in preparation for his performance on the hit TV show.
TMZ Sports talked to the 35-year-old Lakers center after he was eliminated from the show Wednesday night, following his performance of "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard, while wearing an extravagant Octopus costume.
"I did singing lessons. I did dancing lessons. I even did my own stuff, my own homework, drills that I never thought you'd have to do for singing.