Dwight Howard: The Most Underrated NBA Player of the 21st Century
I know what you’re thinking, “The most underrated player in the entire century? A guy who never won a title or an MVP?”
Yes, the entire century. Between the off-court, and sometimes on-court, fights with coaches and teammates, we the basketball community have lost sight of what Dwight Howard was at his peak. One of the greatest centers that ever lived.
I hadn’t really thought about Dwight in a while until I saw an article that he was doing a tryout for the Golden State Warriors this offseason that ultimately doesn’t seem like it’s going to translate into a signing.
It brought me back to days when he was a force of nature in the Orlando Magic years, dunking on everybody, blocking everyone’s shot, and carrying his team to the NBA Finals. And then I remembered how he WASN’T named on that Top 75 Players of All Time list that came out a while back.
I just don’t know how they messed up this badly. Part of me knows I shouldn’t be surprised because I’ve spent decades as a sports fan watching countless media members and writers mess up Hall of Fame inductions in leagues like the MLB and the NFL, so why would this be any different?
Taken 1st overall in 2004 out of high school, the question was could he translate his otherworldly athleticism into legit star player-level production?
So look at Howard’s resume:
He is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, has five-time All-Defensive selections, eight-time All-Star, and eight-time All-NBA selections.
He’s come close to winning an MVP, finishing second to Derrick Rose in 2011 and fourth in 2009 and 2010. He’s one of six players ever — along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Robert Parish, and Artis Gilmore — with 19,000 points, 14,000 rebounds, and 2,000 blocks in his career.
During those prime years when he was dominating in Orlando, he averaged 20 and 13 with 2.4 blocks a game and led the team to 50-plus wins in four straight regular seasons (2007–08 through 2010–11) with an NBA Finals appearance in 2009.
One of 4 players ever to win 3 Defensive Player of the Year awards, Dwight stands at 11th all-time in rebounds and 13th all-time in blocks.
Mind you, this was during a time in the league when competition was at an all-time high. LeBron James and Kobe Bryant were everywhere. The league was transitioning into the heavy perimeter shooting style of play we see in today’s league. But here was Dwight Howard, a throwback player you’d see in the 80s, dominating the paint on both sides of the ball.
The comparisons to Shaquille O’Neal were always there since Shaq also brought the Magic to the Finals in the 90s, but unlike Shaq, Dwight didn’t have a Penny Hardaway to help him. His 2nd best player was Jameer Nelson, no offense to Jameer, but he was no Penny.
We know his reputation and recency bias are what cost him a spot on the Top 75 list. He’s said it himself, his former coach Stan Van Gundy said it, and his peers have alluded to it.
As with most big men whose games were based on physicality, age caught up to Dwight. Injuries sapped his athleticism, and the need for perimeter shooting in today’s world has made bruisers like him a figment of the past. Bouncing around from team to team in the second half of his career, playing this past season in Taiwan, not the ideal path for an all-time great to end his career.
At some point though, it’s time for these writers and media members to stop letting their egos dictate the way they vote on these matters. You may not like the guy, but you shouldn’t let it cover up the fact that he’s going to waltz into the Hall of Fame first ballot as one of the greatest players to ever live.
I won’t do the, he should replace so and so on the Top 75 list, although there are OBVIOUS players he deserves it more than. I’ll simply say if you weren’t lucky enough to watch him in his prime, do a quick YouTube search to see the player he was and recognize the greatness.
