Joel Embiid has been one of the frontrunners for the MVP for two seasons in a row, his domination at the center position has been a thing of beauty to watch. Even though injuries have constantly messed with the Philadelphia 76ers’ big man, he has time and again shown exactly why he is considered to be one of the best players in the NBA currently.
This is in stark contrast to Dwight Howard, who is still a free agent despite having been over a month since free agency began. Thanks to how his career has petered out, though, many forget what a beast Dwight was in his prime. His comparison with Anthony Davis shows that Howard has enjoyed a career that is likely worthy of a place in the Hall Of Fame, as he believes.
And recently, NBA fans have done their favorite thing, which is to ask on Reddit which player is better. Joel Embiid, or a prime Dwight Howard. And while the answers are varied, it’s easy to see the respect most fans still hold for Dwight.
“Yes but actually no. I dont know. Maybe.”
“Dwight beat prime LeBron and led Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals, why should we even debate about this?”
“2 different types of players playing in different eras for the most part. Hard to compare.”
“Defensively Dwight babies Embiid. Offensively Embiid babies Dwight.”
“That would be a fun matchup either way.”
“I would say no. Prime Dwight was a Defensive monster, and an average player on the offensive end.”
“I don’t have a opinion one way or another, but saying Dwight is better because his team had more success is really lazy.”
“I mean, prime D12 led his team to the finals, past a strapping, young LeBron led Cavs so.”
“Dwight is more old school in the sense that he plays like a traditional big, but there’s a reason more bigs are playing like Embiid.”
“Prime Dwight couldn’t shoot the rock. Embiid by a mile.”
“Embiid isn’t just entering his prime years; he’s likely in the middle of them. Considering his injury history, there’s a good chance he’s closer to the end of his prime than the beginning.”
It would seem that fans are quite split on this topic, and it truly is hard to pick one or the other in these situations. However, the one truth is that Dwight Howard often doesn’t get the respect he deserves for just how good he was. It will be curious to see where he lands up on everyone’s Top 100 lists when everything is said and done.
