Dwight Howard may no longer be the player that he once was, but in his prime, Howard was the main man on an NBA Finals team, an MVP candidate, and a 3-time Defensive Player Of The Year.
During his days with the Orlando Magic, between 2008-2012, Dwight Howard was named to the All-NBA First Team 5 times. This implies he was a Top 5 player in the league, but according to his then-coach Stan Van Gundy, he was Top 3.
“The time I was here, to me, the only two guys you could talk about in his (Dwight Howard’s) league at that time, were LeBron (James) and Kobe (Bryant), who was still playing,” said Van Gundy on the Knuckleheads podcast.
“That’s it. There was no one else to talk about, in my opinion. Because you’re talking both ends of the floor. He was three straight years the Defensive Player Of The Year. And you know, we were also, 1, 2, 3, something like that in defense. We had really good players, but we didn’t necessarily have good defenders. It was because of him. What made us a really good defense was him.
“And then on offense, he’s still giving you like 20 plus. We weren’t throwing him the ball all the time to let him get numbers, but everything revolved around him… Look, for him to not be in the Top 75, that was just a personality thing. There’s no way.”
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This is high praise from Stan Van Gundy, but it’s fully deserved. Dwight Howard was a total beast during his prime with the Orlando Magic. And between 2008 and 2012, Howard averaged 20.6 points, 13.9 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game. Those numbers, coupled with his defensive impact, speak for themselves, very few players can claim to have dominated like that over 5 years.
Kobe Bryant Stopped Dwight Howard From Winning A Championship
Unfortunately for Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant was out to prove that he could win without Shaquille O’Neal. This coincided with Howard’s run with the Magic, and he lost to Kobe and the Lakers in the 2009 NBA Finals despite some massive performances.
It’s interesting to think about what could have been if Howard had won a championship as the main man on an Orlando Magic team. Unfortunately, he left Orlando in 2012 and was never able to find the same success despite playing alongside the likes of Kobe Bryant and James Harden. He eventually won a championship with the LeBron James-led Lakers, but that was as a role player. Howard remains one of the most disrespected superstars in NBA history.
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