Kobe Bryant was not always The Black Mamba. Some even remember the smiling, young Kobe before he turned into the self-proclaimed “Killer Snake”. Michael Jordan already had a penchant for uber-competitiveness and desire when the “Jordan Rules” happened. After that, he turned into a 6 time NBA champion, the certified greatest ever, and kind of a jerk. Entire generations were taught that losers, were not allowed to smile. Winning was the only source of happiness.
Dwight Howard never had a moment that stopped his smile. Dwight was adored early in his career. He was young and expressive, like his assumed predecessor, Shaquille O’Neal. Many had lofty expectations out of the athletic freak. Shaq, often the critique of Dwight, even said he expected three or four championships out of him back in 2011 according to NESN.
“..there’s only really one dominant big man left, and that’s Dwight Howard. So I expect him to win three or four championships. If he doesn’t win three or four championships, I’ll be disappointed.”
Dwight became a case study in high expectations. Fans do this often. They create arbitrary goals for players and if they don’t achieve them, they are failures. Success becomes unattainable unless, say, the player is able to come back down 3-1 in the NBA Finals to beat a 73 win team.
So, Dwight became hated. Not just for the normal reasons like, having a ton of snakes. Which to be clear, is a totally acceptable reason to dislike someone. But for smiling, for being goofy, and “not taking it seriously”. He became hated for looking aloof and not dominating in the post. He became hated for never hitting the goals others had set for him.
The blinding light of expectations has stopped many from seeing the truth. The cordial and expressive nature of his personality clashed with the fact that he has never won a championship. You are only allowed to complain, or smile when you are a winner. All of this distracted from the fact that Dwight Howard is, and has been, a great player.
To put his greatness into perspective, there are only 8 players who have accumulated 16,000 points 11,000 rebounds and 1,800 blocks. That list includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Robert Parish, Patrick Ewing, and Dwight freaking Howard. He is also the only player to play at least 32,000 minutes and have rebounding percentage splits of 20/29/11. For those who do not know, rebounding percentage is the percentage of available rebounds any player grabs whilst on the court. So that means, Dwight Howard grabs 20.8% of all rebounds, 29.2% of defensive rebounds, and 11.9% of offensive rebounds. Grabbing rebounds at this clip, for this long, has never been done! Now, this is just regular season gobbledygook, he has never had real success in the playoffs, right?
Wrong.
Some fans may have forgotten, but Dwight Howard did single-handedly power the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals. At 23 years old, he got past the Kevin Garnett/Ray Allen/Paul Pierce/Rajon Rondo Celtics (KG missed the playoffs with injury), the best LeBron James Cavaliers team and even stole a game from the unstoppable Lakers! At 23! Joel Embiid is 2 months away from turning 23 and the NBA world loses its mind all because he makes the Sixers not terrible.
(Quick sidenote, Joel Embiid is amazing and is a basketball lord. He was used for context purposes.)
Dwight Howard was also not just an accessory on his teams succeeding. His playoff career averages of 19.1 points 14.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks have never replicated. Literally, no other player has averaged these numbers in their respective careers. None of the great bigs of the past, not even the critical Shaquille O’Neal. His player efficiency rating is also greater in the playoffs than the regular season. Like some of the best all time, he plays better come playoff time.
The biggest problem with many believing Dwight Howard sucks, is not only that he never has, but that he still doesn’t. His play this season has nearly deserved an All-Star selection and before scoffing, closing the link, and taking a long walk, listen to the argument. He is averaging his most rebounds per game since his Orlando days (12.9), his highest field goal percentage (63%), offensive rating (117), total rebounding percentage (24.5%), and offensive rebounding percentages (17.2%) of his entire career. Career numbers in a year, and time, when he is generally viewed as a laughing stock. His offensive rating/defensive rating of 117/100 is also better than Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, Paul Milsap and other presumed All-Star players.
Now, Dwight Howard will not make the 2017 NBA All-Star game, for all the reasons stated above. Even if there is a large case to be made for him, his teammate Paul Millsap is more likely to be selected. His personality created this negative aura around him that his play had almost no part constructing. Even I, compiling this list and argument, could not put him on my All-Star team with any confidence. Paul Milsap just does a little bit more. But, to be fair, Paul Millsap also doesn’t own any snakes.
Dwight Howard is a fantastic player. His personality may warrant being left off an All-Star roster, but it does not warrant the vitriol and hate he receives. He has been a vastly successful player and person throughout the entirety of his career. And while losers may not be allowed to smile, Dwight Howard has never been one, so he will smile on.
(All stats come courtesty of Basketball reference.)
