Dwight Howard: A Dominant Center in the Hall of Fame
Dwight Howard will be honored in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend, a recognition of his outstanding career. Howard, an eight-time All-Star, eight-time member of the All-NBA teams, and three-time Defensive Player of the Year, deserves his place among the legends. Although it’s difficult to label someone who enters the Hall of Fame on their first attempt as “underestimated,” that label could apply to the new center from Springfield, Massachusetts. Until 2021, Howard was one of 26 players in NBA history with at least five All-NBA First Team selections. However, Howard was not included on the league’s 75th anniversary team. Howard is the only modern player with a similar level of achievement who did not receive that honor. Howard’s game had its weaknesses. Like other dominant centers such as Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O’Neal, he wasn’t a good free throw shooter (57% for life). He committed twice as many turnovers as assists. He was an inefficient scorer in the post, despite frequently asking for the ball. However, Howard’s historical underestimation seems to reflect the evolution of his career.Howard was a force on both ends of the court. He played 82 games in five of his first seven seasons and never less than 78. He is one of four players with at least three Defensive Player of the Year trophies. Howard was much better than the other three, Rudy Gobert, Dikembe Mutombo, and Ben Wallace, on offense. Howard finished his career with more points than Mutombo and Wallace combined. Howard’s strengths also helped the Orlando Magic develop a modern style before it was popular. With shooters like Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, and Ryan Anderson on the court alongside a dominant center, the late-2000s Magic were ahead of their time. Van Gundy and Howard’s teammates at the time attribute Howard’s presence in the paint to facilitating that approach. Howard led the NBA in dunks for six consecutive seasons, from 2005-06 to 2010-11.Howard is one of the 19 players in NBA history with five consecutive appearances on the All-NBA First Team.
Alofoke Deportes
In the 2009 conference finals, Howard helped create one of the biggest upsets of the 21st century playoffs. Orlando defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had won 66 games, and avoided the expected finals matchup between Kobe and LeBron. Howard scored 40 points in the decisive game of the Orlando conference finals and averaged 20 points, 15 rebounds and 2.6 blocks during that postseason.
Howard also adds intangible points because he was the starting center of the “Redeem Team” that won the gold medal in 2008 and helped revitalize the weekend slam dunk contest of the stars after a period of decline for the event. Unfortunately, Howard’s intangibles weren’t always so positive. His career declined after 2012, when Howard requested to leave Orlando. He was traded to the Lakers and, perhaps most importantly from a long-term perspective, underwent back surgery. In retrospect, Howard’s most representative team wasn’t the Magic or the Lakers, but the Houston Rockets, with whom he played for three years after his first and unsatisfactory stint with the Lakers. Howard fulfilled the life cycle of a real rocket: he shone with intensity and reached incredible heights before finally falling to Earth.
