Lakers veteran Dwight Howard isn’t the same player he used to be. Today, at the tail end of his career, he’s not much more than a backup big man for the L.A. Lakers.
But there was once a time when Dwight was one of the best players in basketball, even going so far as to lead the Orlando Magic to the Finals back in 2009. Unfortunately for Howard, that stretch of his career often gets forgotten by the fans, and even the NBA itself.
When the league made their Top 75 players list, Howard’s name was nowhere to be found, despite his excellence for nearly a decade. And now, Howard is speaking out about the snub, calling it out as disrespectful:
“You hear people say, ‘He was only dominant for a couple of years.’ I didn’t know eight years of being an All-Star, being dominant for eight years, was a couple of years,” Dwight said in an interview with The Athletic. “I didn’t know winning three Defensive Player of the Year awards in a row, and it should’ve been four, is something that is considered not good.
There’s guys who don’t have those many accolades. I’m the (youngest) player that’s (reached) 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 all the way up to 9,000 rebounds. That doesn’t add up. So, where is the miscommunication? Where is the lie with my stats?”
For Dwight, the disrespect started long before the NBA’s Top 75 list. Even back when he played for the Hornets, people looked for ways to discredit his numbers.
“Their take even on the 30-30 game was, ‘Well, he could’ve been doing that every night if he just took the game seriously,’” he said. “It’s like, it doesn’t make any sense. I did something that hasn’t been done — once in 35 years by Kevin Love.”
As an 8x All-Star, 8x All-NBA player, 3x Defensive Player of the Year, and 2020 NBA Champion, the self-proclaimed ‘Superman’ has a resume most players can only dream of.
Regardless of where he ranks among the All-Time greats, there is no erasing what he was able to do in the prime of his career.
