Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard was utterly dominant over the course of his 8-year stint with the Orlando Magic. As a member of the Magic, he was named to the All-Star team 6 years in a row, 1st Team All-NBA 5 years in a row, and 1st Team All-Defense 4 years in a row. He also earned Defensive Player of the Year honors in 3 consecutive years. He led the league in blocks twice, and in rebounds 4 times. He was the best center in the NBA, and a force to be reckoned with. Ever since he left Orlando, he’s still been a very good player, but he hasn’t been quite as dominant. It’s been 4 years since he skipped town to play in L.A. with Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash, and now Howard is reportedly considering a return to Orlando.
From Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report(transcribed by Roger Simmons of the Orlando Sentinel):
“Dwight’s Plan A is to stay in Houston and make it work. He has made that abundantly clear,” Bucher reported. “But he is also looking at Plan Bs and league sources say that one of those is the possible return to Orlando. He has been seeking out whether the Magic would be open to that through back channels.”
I sort of doubt this happens. A lot of Magic fans were quite angry with howard when he left. Furthermore, the Magic already have a talented young center in Nikola Vucevic(though his defense needs a lot of work). I’m assuming Howard will seek a max contract this summer, and I’m not sure Orlando wants to shell out the big bucks for a 30-year-old constantly injured center.
