Dwight Howard Plays Challenging “Start, Bench, Cut” Game With Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, And Hakeem Olajuwon

Dwight Howard was asked to start, bench, and cut one of the three most legendary centers ever in Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Hakeem Olajuwon.

3 Min Read

Credit: Fadeaway World

The NBA’s history is filled with players that were in a league of their own and dominated their positions. Michael Jordan is widely thought to be the greatest shooting guard ever, and Tim Duncan is the best power forward of all time. But one position has more competition than perhaps any other in the NBA, and that’s center. 

The game in the early days was dominated by the big men. Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain were the original superstars, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar followed in their footsteps as an unstoppable force. The 90s had some amazing centers as well, but none that compared to Hakeem Olajuwon. And the last truly dominant center in the league was none other than Shaquille O’Neal

There are often debates among NBA fans about which player they would start, bench, and cut from a selection of three legends. This is always a difficult choice but even more so when picking between the greatest centers. Yet that’s exactly what one of the best modern centers, Dwight Howard, had to do. 


Dwight Howard Said He Would Trade Kareem Abdul-Jabbar When Asked To Choose

The choice is a hard one, just ask Tracy McGrady, who was asked a similar question. So when Dwight Howard was asked about which of the legendary centers he would start and who he would bench, his answer was an interesting one. 

(starts at 1:56:20 minutes)

Darius Miles: “Hold on. Start, bench, cut. You gotta start one, you gotta bench one, you gotta cut one. Shaquille O’Neal. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Olajuwon. Who do you start, who do you bench, who do you cut? Them some dope a** centers, you like that. Trade, I’m sorry. You can’t cut these because they too Hall of Fame. But to trade.”

Dwight Howard: “I gotta start Shaq… Kareem cold. I think he the GOAT for big men. But I gotta trade him and I gotta keep Dream.”

It’s a little surprising that Howard chose to start Shaquille O’Neal, considering that he and Shaq have had their beef. But considering how dominant the big Diesel was, it’s not a wild pick. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is often overlooked a little, some people think he should be in the GOAT conversation. But there’s no denying that Hakeem was a unicorn in his way. There’s no right answer to a question like this, and Howard should be applauded for coming up with one. 

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Divij Kulkarni is an NBA columnist for Fadeaway World. He has covered the NBA and the English Premier League, with 4 years of experience in creating sports content. Finding exciting and intriguing content about all things NBA is both his job and his passion. Divij loves the Dallas Mavericks and can be regularly observed getting emotional during games. Outside of basketball, he enjoys reading fantasy and sci-fi novels, consuming copious amounts of movies and TV, and spending time with his dog, Olivia. Expertise: NBA, Historical Sports ResearchFavorite Team: Dallas MavericksFeatured On HoopsHype, Sports Illustrated, Secret Base, MSNPrevious Work: Tribuna
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