It may be a guard’s game now, but big men are still important in today’s NBA and the 2020 postseason will see no shortage of talent on that end. The list includes Rudy Gobert, Marc Gasol, Ban Adebayo, and Nikola Jokic.
Of course, with all the talent in the frontcourt, there is bound to be some friction and in a conversation with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, Lakers center Dwight Howard talked about going up against Joel Embiid, who he said he wanted to “choke.”
Dwight Howard: "Joel Embiid makes you want to choke him because he flops so much."
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) July 18, 2020
Needless to say, the two have a history together that isn’t exactly pretty. The two have played a total of four times and have totaled 37 fouls between both of them. While Embiid seems to be winning the “matchup” war (20 points per game compared to Dwight’s 12), Howard is closer to winning the war for the Championship.
He and the Lakers have the West’s best record and are entering this postseason as the favorites to come out of the West. In Philly, the broken partnership between Embiid and Simmons has resulted in disappointing results.
As for Joel’s supposed “flopping” tendencies, selling calls under the rim does seem to be quite frequent for him and it has worked pretty effectively so far.
In the end, however, none of it means anything if they can’t bring home a title. These next few months will be crucial in not only settling this mini rivalry once and for all, but also cementing them as some basketball’s greatest big men.
