How Good was Dwight Howard Really?
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- čas přidán 10. 09. 2023
- An evaluation and breakdown of the talent and legacy of Dwight Howard.
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The game of Basketball has been my passion since I was 5 years old. I grew up as a kid watching my dad's recorded VHS tapes of playoff games through the 70s and 80s, and collected all the Basketball cards. Something about the game and what it represents just hooked me from a very young age.
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I post videos every week on NBA history, predictions, hypothetical scenarios and current NBA topics.
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How would you describe Dwight Howard in a word??
Cam Newton
Childish, in the best and worst ways
"Gaaayyee!!" ...Lol but all jokes aside i would say "underrated"
Dominant in his prime
@@gustavsorensen9301physically unworldly talented but burned out fast yeah
It's a shame that Dwight wasn't in the top 75 he's one of the last guy's who prevented LeBron from reaching the '09 finals vs Kobe
Putting in AD and Dame but not Dwight was one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen. It’s crazy how much the league romanticizes offense while overlooking the greatest defensive players of all time
@@jonnyarnettdamian Lillard in the top 75 just seemed so wrong. He's what Chuck calls a "studio gangster"
@sharkyrex_6192 Yeah, I love Dame, but that was so premature. Look at his resume right next to Dwight’s, and it’s clear who the better choice is
Dwight got snubbed pure and simple. Many players and media politicking behind the scenes don't like him so they kept him off the list.
@@jonnyarnettit’s definitely right up there with them leaving out Nique. that was a travesty too.
Dwight Howard’s resume(NBA)
- NBA champion💍 (2020)
- 8× NBA All-Star (2007-2014)
- 5× All-NBA First Team (2008-2012)
- All-NBA Second Team (2014)
- 2× All-NBA Third Team (2007, 2013)
- 3× NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2009-2011)
- 4× NBA All-Defensive First Team (2009-2012)
- NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2008)
- NBA All-Rookie First Team (2005)
- 5× NBA rebounding leader (2008-2010, 2012, 2013)
- 2× NBA blocks leader (2009, 2010)
- NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion (2008)
- Mvp finishes: 2008(5th),2009(4th),2010(4th), 2011(2nd)2012(7th)
- 1st in double-doubles since 2000
- 1st in rebounds since 2000
- 2nd in blocks since 2000
Dwight Howard RS career averages
- 15.6 PPG
- 11.8 RPG(22nd)
- 1.3 APG
- 0.9 SPG
- 1.8 BPG(34th)
- 2.7 TPG
- 58.7/21.4/56.7%
- 31.8 MPG
From 2007-2014 Dwight put up
- 19.5 PPG
- 13.3 RPG
- 2.3 BPG
- P59 %FG
- 0-3 feet he finished at 73%
Dwight Howard Playoff career averages
- 15.3 PPG
- 11.8 RPG(23rd)
- 1.2 APG
- 0.8 SPG
- 2.0 BPG(20th)
- 2.6 TPG
- 58.9/14.3/54.8%
* Only player in NBA history to lead the league in blocks, rebounding and field goal percentage in the same season (2009-10) Averaged 2.8 blocks and 13.2 rebounds per game, and shot 62.1% from the field.
* Most seasons with 1,000+ rebounds since 2000- (7)Dwight Howard
* Only player in NBA history to lead the league in blocks and rebounding in more than one season (2008-09-2009-10)
* One of two players to record at least 30 points and 15 rebounds while shooting perfectly from the field in a game Including Wilt Chamberlain, who recorded 34 points on 14-14 shooting from the field, 27 rebounds (and 11 blocks, not officially counted) in 40 minutes, Los Angeles Lakers vs. Detroit Pistons, on March 11, 1969
From 2007-2014 Dwight put up
19.5 PPG
13.3 RPG
2.3 BPG
P59 %FG
0-3 feet he finished at 73%
From 2007-2014 Dwight put up
20.6 PPG
14.0 RPG
2.8 BPG
0-3 feet he finished at.
His post game was very overshadowed for what’s eve reason it wasn’t as good as shows or chucks or Hakeems..but in Orlando he was a problem ..
Only 50% of his shots was unassisted and other half was from putbacks and Post ups
Dwight carried his Orlando teams to a top 6 defensive rating while being the only real defender on his team
2007- 6th
2008- 6th
2009- 1st
2010- 3rd
2011- 3rd
For more stats like this,highlights,lowlights, updates and debates follow my NUMBERSTATSFAX PAGE ON IG,TIKTOK🙏🏾🙏🏾
Lol. You were READY!! Gotta respect the hustle for promoting your stuff 😤😂
thats insane man keep up the good work
You're a stat hawk my guy 💯
My favourite comment in CZcams history! 🔥
Where would you rank him all-time?
As an ORL magic fan, I thought that Dwight had the potential to be an all time center, and due to both back problems and maturity issues he just never quite figured everything out and never fulfilled his true potential even though he is a future HOF.
He The Magic Goat
Nah, that s shaq@@Time-To-Obligation
@franagustin3094 Look at the Howard Accomplishments, & remember Both had incredible Potential! (Both left though)
@@Time-To-Obligation shaq is shaq
@@franagustin3094 shaq wasn't his Prime self until Lakers, & He was a Top 7 in the League In his Magic Days, while Howard was Top 4
Dwight's physical peak made it seemed like gravity did not apply to him, which was crazy for someone who was 6'10". Unfortunally during his character creation, he put all his points in strength and leaping ability and didn't put that many points in offensive skill and touch. He's still going into the hall of fame.
Dwight played a significant role in that bubble chip in 2020. For that, I thank him. I know the Black Mamba was not a fan of him as a teammate, but Dwight helped us to win that one for Kobe. That one really meant a lot to a lot of people. Myself included.
He definitely needs more love in the greatest defensive players of all time convo. I feel like there's no reason for him to be so overlooked in that regard.
Saw Dwight Howard and the Atlanta Celtics AAU team at the Adidas Big Time Tournament before his senior year. Literally changed my life. First time I saw a prodigious HS talent up close. It was unreal. He could dribble, had touch, was GIANT with shoulders wide as the backboard and was jumping WAY out the gym. There were at least 4 or 5 future pros on the court and Dwight was clearly head and shoulders above them all. He got so tired of dunking that game he started just throwing it thru the hoop.
Much better after his prime than given credit for. It’s likes the whole world but me stopped watching him after he left LA. I vividly remember him still being an elite player for his first two seasons in Houston in the playoffs but people act like he just fell off a cliff. I’ll never understand it. At a certain point when do we stop criticizing a player for what he didn’t do and start appreciating what he did? With Howard there’s far too much but he didn’t do this or that. And not enough people looking at how much the man actually accomplished. He’s the only all
time player that only gets negative press no matter what he does.
I’ve always said this to my friends and even fellow nba fans Howard in Houston was a revival to his career and I truly believe without early season injurie as well as lack of development to his game he’d have been a all star there in 2015 as well and probably could have given houston a better chance to be challenging the warriors in that WCF seriee
He was averaging like 16-12 and 1.6 blks a game through that time, I'd say he was doing pretty good while being behind Harden.
hell one of the playoff runs he was more impactful than harden. I remember harden getting benched and the rockets dominating after that lol.
@@thetrib1 clippers blew that 3-1 lead as the fav to come out the west that year. That playoffs was a crazy year I remember how in high school my homies and I were all talking about warriors bs clippers in WCF. Josh smith Dwight brutalised those guys in game 5
Dwight Howard is a top 50 player ever, a top 12 defender, and he's just so insane and underrated
Top 10 center event easily
Agreed. 👍
Robinson
Ewing
Shaq
Mourning
Parish
Lanier
Wilt
Russell
Olajuwon
Moses
Prime Walton
Jokic
Embiid
All better. not top 10 more like 12th - 14th.
@@JimBrave-ri1oc Lanier parish mourning and debatable Moses don't touch Howard, Walton has 1 1/2 good seasons, longevity gaps him, and jokic and embiid* will be better with longevity *embiid is so bad in the playoffs and is so injury prone it might not even matter if he has like 5 more good regular seasons or whatever
Parish is top 50. So is Lanier. Mourning won more and was a better piece of his championship with 10 points 7 rebounds and 4 blocks per game off the bench. Mourning was better. Walton was better if you count the 4 years in college. That is ages 18-22 which you count for Howard so you can't be a liar and not count them for Walton just 38 games each year in College but still he is consided a top 10 college player.
Which tells me you only look at stats in the NBA and not at who is the Better player. @@Tanner17 howards stats are inflated. Mourning would average 30 / 20 / 5 blocks today.
@@JimBrave-ri1oc parish and Lanier or mourning are not top 50-
Like the best one out of these guys is morning and like
Offense: Howard clears
Defense: Howard clears
Peak: Howard clears
Longevity: off the top of my head, mourning clears
Playoffs; Howard slights
Portability: Howard wipes
And for Walton,
We're not talking about college,
For the NBA,
Offense:Walton wipes
Defense: Howard destroys
Peak:Walton wipes
Longevity: Howard destroys
Playoffs: Walton slights
Port: Walton slights
Jonny uploading daily really does something to me, what a guy 😂
PS: I remember 19 year old Dwight and boy… I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a 19 YEAR OLD with that kind of physique. Actually non-human lol
Dwight was who the 96-99 Utah Jazz wanted Greg Osterteg to be; an elite rim protector and defender that could also score when a system allowed him to. If he traveled back in time to that team then he would have helped the Jazz to create a dynasty of their own. If he could have found himself on a team with two other stars on it, like Stockton and Malone in my hypothetical, we would talk about him very differently because he would have a few more rings on his fingers.
I watched peak Howard. He was physically gifted but really benefited from not having any real competition at center. If he played with the centers of the 80's and early 90's, Ewing, Robinson, Hakeem, Shaq, Smits, Daugherty, Motumbo, Zo, all of them would have schooled Dwight in post play. He could jump out of the gym but just had a really, really rough game.
Dwight was my fav player growing up , he is always passed up in convos about great centers and it infuriates me
Because you never watched those other great centers playing and don't understand. Him being your favorite player and getting mad when his name doesn't come up properly shows how little you know about basketball 🙄
He is an all-time player. But there are several Centers that are better.
These daily uploads have been great
I always had a weak spot for fierce (but fair) defenders and this guy, even if he wasn't an elite scorer, certainly was a defensive beast.
you've been dropping bangers lately bro
Hey Jonny, when are you going to do the second part of the 150 questions video? Love your channel and content, thanks for making me more knowledgeable about the NBA!
I hated Dwight after his failed Lakers stint in the 12-13 season. Never thought that would ever change than he comes back and had a complete turn around and totally redeems himself helping us win a chip. Even if he never came back and I still hated his guts I'd have voted him in the 75 list, his resume speaks for itself.
he was like the 8th best player on that Cheating Micky fake one.
@@JimBrave-ri1oc4th best behind Lebron AD Rondo
Top 75 all time, fucc what the haters say
We have to give Jonny his credit for creativity! I have no interest in the upcoming NBA season. However, I look forward to Jonny's daily videos.
Sorry to hear that your team is trash
Dwight showed his offensive versatility in Charlotte he was running the floor and shooting jumpers
I used to think he was a little bit overrated. But now that time passed and people act like he wasn't dominant defensively leads me to believe that he has become underrated
First Take and Undisputed could really learn smg from Jonny
Loving the daily upload!
Dwight Howard should’ve been on the Top 75 list. he was more deserving than Lillard, Anthony, Miller, Rodman, Maravich, Davis, and some of those older Celtics players. the belief that the negative locker room presence hurt his chance….wym? you got players like Chamberlain, Harden, Jordan, O’Neal, Barry, etc who all have been considered negative locker room presences and or bad teammates in general. and they still made the list. idk what more Dwight needed to do to make the list.
@markjackson Rodman, Miller and Lillard are overrated. I would've put Kyrie, Ginobili, Parker and Howard in the top 75 instead.
Jonny grinding. Sheesh.
Jonny cooking!!
Def top 75, maybe a lil overrated in his time but underrated now
The holes in Dwight’s offense was well known back then. I remember the hype surrounding the clip of him finally getting some training from Hakeem-although that ultimately proved unfruitful. The same goes whenever he had Kevin McHale as his coach in Houston. It was seen as another opportunity for him to get some mentorship in terms of bigman, post-up offense-but once again, it seemed to have led to nowhere significant.
Dwight will forever be one of the most dominant defensive forces to ever grace the hardwood but his ranking all-time will always be capped by his lack of an offensive bag.
Factual and very eloquently put!🎯
I never clicked on a video so fast. Please let em' know how good Dwight Howard was because the disrespect I've been seeing on social media and basketball forums has to stop.
Great video as always. Still stoked that Dwight is a champion! 🏆
you 're doing good job, Johny
belive it or not I am from Serbia , former Yugoslavia and 've been watcing NBA from 1991 play off. that means I watched Jordan live, Shaq coming to league and everything that's happening for the decades
we share the same thoughts about most of the question , so about Howard
you couldn't belive how NBA was popular back in the days in Serbia, during the 90's, during te war time here
great editing and naration and truely understanding of the game
keep it going, bro
Thank you Jonny!
Great video bro! I think you should do one on KG
Nice video and btw can you make a video about TP9?
hey jonny back again!! just letting you know that you are the best nba channel on youtube
pt2
I hat when people say he never lived up to his potential. He averaged like 20 and 15 during his prime and remained a very serviceable player after his prime. He is a 3x DPOY. “ Had the potential to be one of the greatest centers of all time.” MFer he is one of the greatest centers of all time. Point blank period
Straight up man. He is easily a first ballot hall of famer and he's got a ring with the Lakers as a cherry on top
doesnt break top 20 for me
@@samantharay6098 yo who cares appreciate greatness because you don't know when they'll be gone the next day
@@ikedatike2533 greatness does eventually disappear yes
but dwight howard just goes to taiwan
Magic fan here I love dwight Howard even with all the drama he caused in orlando he's for sure a HOF player
I always wonder what if Dwight didn't stay that extra year in Orlando? He had an early termination clause to become a FA, but he got talked into staying another year, which didn't work and then he left anyway. His back injury is what hurt his career and first stint in LA. Add in the failed CP3 trade, and LA could have had peak Dwight, peak CP3, and Kobe.
Honestly dude should still be on a roster.. if he plays for the minimum there's 30 teams that should sign him
Dwight Howard got Rob on being a top 75 NBA player of all time!
And now working out with the Warriors a few days ago! :) He's not done yet!
Fully believe he deserved to be in the top 75. Even more so than Klay
hey jonny, i have an idea for a video: 5 players who have most changed the narrative about themselves throughout their career (from negative to positive or the other way around). don't know if that is sufficiently interesting but maybe it's a good idea 🤷
I would argue over half of all NBA fans act like Dwight isn’t a certified Top 15 Center in NBA History and a Hall of Fame player. And 99.7% of them can’t come up with an argument against him 🗿🫡😂 Dwight was a BEAST!
Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum were the 2 best centers in the NBA at one point in time
The Dwight disrespect needs to end! Put some freaking respect on that man’s name
Dwight wasn't a killer. He was just too nice, and a lot of people took advantage of that. Imagine how fucking good he would have been with mamba mentality, if he dedicated himself to improving his game.
His reputation def took a major hit going to the Lakers. I wonder if it would have been different had he stayed with the Magic?
Yeah, think D. Rose. If Howard stayed, he would've been seen a loyal "what if" due to his back issues.
The fact that Howard was the best center in the league for so long speaks more of the center position, the competition, than about him. Sure he was a great rebounder and defender, and probably deserved those DPOY trophies, but he was extremely limited offensively. Hakeem Olajuwon offered him help with the post moves and Howard accepted but he just couldn't learn well enough from the post move master.
His game and resume makes him an offensively better version of Ben Wallace. At the all time list he is somewhere around the same spots with Dikembe Mutombo. Howard is probably just a spot or two higher thanks to that championship he won. Even though that 'championship' is the cheapest ring of all time.
Defensively, Dwight was a beast in his prime. The best defender of his era
And underrated offensively as well
@@billblaski9523 If Dwight played with Steve Nash in the 2000's, Dwight would be in the Top 5 best Centers of all time.
He’s a Top 75er. Period.
Prime Dwight Howard was an all time great. I will not deny that but what I hate seeing is when younger people say things like he was better than Patrick Ewing. No reason reason as to why and considering I watched both of these guys play quite a bit in their primes I think Dwight would have been great in the 90s but not a top 5 center of the 90s like people forget Ewing was.
*If we were to measure Centers by their Prime Year, Dwight Howard is a Top 10 5 of all Time.*
Not even prime he is a top 10 center all time.
Jonny Arnett you have a series about NBA players prime years
If Dwight wasn’t so hated around the league, there’s no doubt he would be apart of nba’s top 75
He was the second best player in the league when he was in his prime
Maybe a top 10 or 15 defensive player in his prime
It was ridiculous that he wasn’t on the top 75 list
Second best too high
Never was no second best.🤦🏽♂️ He played great defense and could catch lobs.🤷🏽♂️ Kobe, Lebron, TMac, Dwade, Melo All were in the league at that time. Andrew Bynum out played him in the finals
Clearly a Top 75, and surefire first ballot HoF.
I would sum up Dwight Howard's career with this phrase, "he was good, but not great." Don't get me wrong, during his peak he was definitely a top 5 player in the league, but the lack of post moves/scoring severely limits him on the offensive end. That's why he really isn't in any conversation as one of the best centers of all time.
He was like the Incredible Hulk for 5 years stretch.
Then became the End Game Hulk the rest of his years.
😂💯
Damn bro. You didn’t need to be soo accurate lmfao
Like before watching
One of the greatest centers of all time.
During Howard's prime there was a common hypothetical of what current player would you most want to build around. A lot of people chose Dwight over LeBron and even those of us that chose Bron understood and respected the logic.
19k pts
14k reb
8x all star
8x all nba
7x all nba defense
2k blocks
1k steals
5x rebound champ
2x block leader
Olympian
Nba champion
Legendary
🏀🏀🏀
He should have been on the top 75 team.
Stephen A Smith came out and said that he's had a better career than Anthony Davis, and he's right.
Had he been even a slightly better offensive player, he likely wins that MVP instead of coming up short in 2011
Somewhere between 2008-2012 Dwight was a pseudo-cheat code in NBA games.... Just had to get vaguely close to the rim with the ball in his hands and it's an auto two points unless you felt like kicking it out to one of the open guys behind the 3 line for an easy shot.
Orlando magic Dwight was an absolute monster.
If Dwight wasn’t on that Lakers Bubble team in 2020, the Lakers don’t win the championship.
There was about a three-year stretch back around 2009, where he was arguably the best player in the league. He's single-handedly put a team of mediocre players with very little defense and very little size, on his back and carried them to a competitive finals. If he had a Pau, a D Wade, a Chris Paul, you know, a great Robin==I believe they probably could have won a couple rings. He was that dominant.
He was so good defensively that he made up for JJ redick's deficiencies and largely gave that guy a career. Reddick probably would have barely rode the bench with most teams but Orlando could put him out there as a three-point sharpshooter who couldn't keep anybody from going to the basket because he didn't have the lateral movement and if he got blown by on defense the other team had to contend with that monster in the middle so that gave Reddick the confidence to play well above his head.
And people would crack him on his lack of offensive prowess. But the reality is that he was so big and strong and dominant on the inside that he didn't need a huge wide variety of shots because just playing offensive rebound cherry-pick put back ball, he was still getting 19 points a nite. And when he's also getting 14 or 15 rebounds, and five blocks, and playing shutdown defense, occupying a guy or two in the middle and drawing defenses to him thus opening up the court for Turkoglu and Lewis. Basically one of them was always open which allowed them to be more efficient at what their game was, which was Steph Curry before Steph Curry where they just stayed outside and Chucked threes. That's just a laundry list of greatness that he's bringing to a team. It was only for a few years because it took him a few years to start to mature and grow into the player that he became. And once it was made known that he was basically a team cancer/coach killer and he ended up with the Lakers and got the injury, he was never the same. But from about 2009 to 2012, there's no question that you could argue he was the best player in the league up there with the Tim Duncan's, Lebron's and Kobe Bryant's. I actually just went and looked, for a five-year stretch between 2008 and 2012, he was in the top finishing as high as 2nd place behind Derrick Rose. And we all know that that was a bit of a fluke season and if Rose hadn't had that, Dwight certainly would have got it.
dwight was actually incredible in the post. dwight just wasn't fluid. he had stiff hips. but he was straight bullying people inside.
I’m a diehard magic fan and I’m still mad at him for leaving.
He was better than AD is now.... he was and is a top 75 player. People forget how great prime Howard was and I'm not really even a fan of his. Dude was a monster. Took a team to the Finals and it was all his team.... beat LeBron and lost to Kobe. Never had anything bad really said about him until Kobe spoke negatively about him. And since humans treat athletes like Gods that they worship from that day on tons of people turned on Dwight Howard and never looked back. Shaq throwing him constant shade hasn't helped either. Bottom line... he was an absolute beast and is massively underrated
He was a great player. He had the potential to be an all-time great, but not the personality...and there is nothing wrong with that.
Just wanna help the video 🎉🎉
Dwight Howard had some great seasons but I think in 10 years, no one will be talking about him. He wasn't consistent enough and did not meet his potential to be one of the best of all time. He was great... for a time.
I think if Dwight just accepted his role as a Bill Russell type player in Houston they could’ve done more and that’s saying a lot as they went to the wcf
They lost cause james takes stupid half court threes the entire game.
Good enough to be a third option on a championship team
Easy 3 rings as a Second option. He got injured badly at age 27.
He's like Broly never got into his Legendary Super Saiyan mode.
You had to be there to remember Howard 💯
Dwight was like watching a modern Wilt Chamberlain. Those two are the highest-reaching centers ever.
No. Robinson and Olajuwon got up the highest and the quickest. They could jump up and hit 12 1/2 on the true 10'1" Rims. not like the all star satuday 9'9" rims after the League tried to get more tv ratings which was huge failure of lowing the rims.
@@JimBrave-ri1oc Those two could also join the competition. Dwight's winning the dunk contest between the lot of them though.
You said at the end of the video that Dwight Howard isn't an all time great due to his lack of offense. What about guys like Bill Russell or Ben Wallace? 2 all time great centers who didn't really thrive on offense either. Obviously he wasn't either of those guys but to say he isn't a top 20 center in the NBA all time I think is much.
Wilt, Jokic, Hakeem, Shaq, Russell, Kareem, Malone, Duncan, Walton, Willis Reed, George Mikan, Bob Lanier, Artis Gilmore, Dave Cowens, Nate Thurmond, David Robinson, Wes Unseld, Yao Ming, Ben Wallace, Patrick Ewing... Dwight Howard #21?
You could put McAdoo in there and bump Howard down to #22.
I think you can justifiably take Howard over Alonzo Mourning, Joel Embiid, Arvydas Sabonis, Brad Daugherty, Chris Bosh, Jack Sikma, etc. But hard for me to see him as top 20.
Jameer was a weak All Star selection in 08-09, so a little more than a "rotating guard".
Fun fact: Dwight Howard's great great grandfather's name was Dwide Hooward
He was definetly NBA top 75 worthy
I hate how they left the original 50 in the top 75. Theres a good amount of guys that have no business being in there and you got guys like Dwight, Gasol, Klay and some others who got snubbed
borderline top 10 center of all time
🏀
This just goes to show how much you can accomplish based purely off of size, and athleticism. He could have been Wilt like if he actually honed his craft. I watched every game that Howard played in LA and his game had some serious fundamental flaws that had zero to do with his injuries. First of all, he was on the bench with foul trouble within the first 5 minutes of every game. A guy who was the best in the league defending the ball above his shoulders, for some reason that only Dwight knows, he would have at least one of his initial 2 fouls coming from swiping at the ball. The difference in defense between above the shoulder attempts and below the shoulder attempts was night and day. If there is a stat that tracks that I'm sure that Dwight would be the number one above the shoulder defender and dead last in below the shoulder defense.
Secondly he flat out could not set a basic screen. I've seen high school kids set better screens. This guy is built like Karl Malone. Whenever Nash or the PG would come up to the pick Dwight would immediately slip the screen and dive as fast as he could to the basket. Now pick and roll isn't about rolling to the basket as fast as you can, it's about knowing how fast the defenders are going to react and being in the pocket for a pass at the precise moment. Not too fast, not too slow. The worst part is that his timing wasn't even a factor. Dwight slipped his screen with little to no contact on the defender, both defenders would collapse on the ball handler, and the PG would be trapped with Dwight under the basket all by himself doing absolutely nothing. IDK if Howard was just too dense to take coaching advice and learn how to screen (at like his 8th season on the league) or Mike D'antonni was just a terrible coach and never said anything to Howard about it. For the first 6 weeks of that season the Lakers were atrocious. I remember this moment in a post game interview as clear as day. The Lakers won a game at the end of December and D'antonni said: "It took me 6 weeks to figure out that we should have been running the pick and roll with Pau instead of Dwight". Once the Lakers made that change they went from being the worst pick and roll team in the league to the best since Stockton and Malone. In fact I would even say that they were better than Stockton and Malone because they had a 3 way option whereas the Jazz only had 2.
With Pau as the screener, the screen's actually got set. Pau could pop for a jump shot, he could pop and pump fake to draw the rim protector out and then throw an alley oop dunk to Dwight, or Pau could roll and score. It was the most unstoppable pick and roll play that I've ever seen. Malone could roll or pop, but he never had a lob dunk threat to pass to like Dwight Howard. I know that Howard came straight out of high school, but at that stage of his career, not being able to play a simple pick and roll, with his body, is inexcusable.
He is a good in an era with weak centers. 2009 who were the centers? An injured yao ming, al jefferson, bynum, horford, oden
To me, his 3 straight DPoY puts him in the top 75. I specifically remember watching him in his prime along with Lebron and saying that I would put Lebron at one and Dwight as a close second solely based on his ceiling. I feel like we’re seeing a second coming of Dwight in Giannis as Giannis is a jump shot away from being unstoppable.
Giannis is a way more natural scorer and scorers mindset than Dwight ever. I don’t see any Dwight in him. I think Giannis is closer to Shaq
He was so dominant before his back problems. His power was compared to Shaq. His playful nature behind the scenes was like Shaq as well which Kobe actually hated. Lol
Smh, he’s the reason we didn’t get the matchup, lakers vs cavs. Which, potentially, could’ve been the best finals matchup in history.
How could you not address the top75 snub? Curious to hear how you felt about that
After he called homself a superstar, his injury problems started. He shouldve stayed in Philly for a few years. He was rivaling LeBron as the best player in the league for at least 2 years, mostly off of his defense. He got on my nerves, & probably everyone else's, when he started complaining about not getting enough "touches". I hated that narrative from big men. Shaq started that nonsense. Get the damn rebounds if you want touches big fellas.
Dwight prime is Rudy Gilbert plus. The plus is he's quick enough to be able to guard smalls. However to have a good post game you either have to be really big and strong like Shaq or really quick and coordinated like the Hakeem. Dwight was neither big nor coordinated enough to be a great post up threat. His ultimate form would have looked something like Dinis Rodman. If instead of trying to make Dwight into Hakeem they tried to make him a bigger stronger Dinis Rodman then he likely would be considered the greatest rebounder of all time and have beaten wilts carrier rebound numbers making him a top ten center all time.
🎉❤
better than AD at his peak. Remember, Dwight is a top 5 player in an era of Kobe Lebron Wade Melo Cp3 Brandon Roy etc.
Van Gundy said it best. Outside of Kobe and LBJ no one was better than prime Howard. He literally was the ORL defense and big part of their offense. Howard was the closest thing to a prime Shaq as far as dominance.
I recently saw some stats that indicate Dwight’s defense might not have been as great as thought. He goal tended and a much higher rate than other shot blockers and his blocked shots lead to opposing team getting the loose ball at a much higher rate than league average. This indicates a maturity problem to me - he was more interested in making big highlight blocks than playing optimal defense.
At his peak, I believe he had 40 goal tending in a season which is 1pt per game he gave up for free.
his stats were inflated at times for what he was doing. he played on a awful team and the magic cheated by inflating the stats for him. Also the rims were lower in those years, especially on all star weekend for tv ratings. He wasn't as big as Zo Mourning. Mourning was a legit 6'11 7'6 Wing Span, size 18 feet, 13 inch hands. 265 And built
Howard was really just barely 6'10 wing span 7'1 size 16 feet 11 inch hands 245 pounds.
Howard was better than LeBum James. He managed to lead his team to the Finals without joining a super team
It's true in his prime Dwight Howard was much better than James. Beat James face up when James had a roster 100 times better. Magic didn't have anyone. Hedo would be on the end of the bench in Cleveland. Same place James put Rashard Lewis who was also better than James. Much more clutch scorer.