Dwight Howard was one of the most dominant forces of his era when he was in his prime with the Orlando Magic. Howard was unstoppable in the paint, playing both ends of the floor and leading the Magic to the NBA Finals. His resume speaks for itself and in the early part of his career, he looked set to become one of the NBA’s all-time greats.
Howard struggled with injury and consistency later in the 2010s though, he went from being a franchise superstar to a role player off the bench. Dwight managed to win an NBA title, but he was far from one of the centerpieces of the team that did it. However, he often gets disrespected because people tend to forget just how incredible he was, including when he was left off the NBA’s Top 75 list.
Additionally, Shaquille O’Neal has always had some animosity with Dwight and he recently claimed that Howard wasn’t a Hall Of Famer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lnIy2WvO20
This seems to have angered a fair few fans on Reddit, with many letting Shaq know that Dwight is absolutely a first-ballot selection for the Hall Of Fame.
“Well, I just lost all respect for Shaq. You can hate on a guy all you want, but saying he’s not a HOFer when he’s easily 1st ballot is just absurd.”
“Shaq’s always felt threatened by Dwight, especially since people started calling him Superman too.”
“Shaq and Dwight have always had beef. So any opinion Shaq has on Dwight is going to be filled with bias.”
“I think a lot of people don’t remember his Magic era. Dudes defense ran the league for YEARS.”
“Dwight should replace Lillard on Top 75 players list.”
“Dwight in his prime was honestly ridiculous, idk why he has so many haters.”
“Why is Shaq like this.”
“I dont even like the guy but hes a HoFer for sure.”
Howard won Defensive Player Of the Year on 3 occasions while also being named to the All-NBA First Team 5 times. His list of accolades is truly incredible and the fact that he gets disrespected even by people like Shaq is quite difficult to understand. It would be quite a shock if Dwight Howard never really made it to the Hall Of Fame.
