MVPs: 0. Finals MVPs: 0. All-NBA 1st Team: 5. 2nd Team: 1. 3rd Team: 2. All Star: 8. MVP: 0.
Defensive POY: 3. All-Defense 1st Team: 4. 2nd Team: 1.
Rebounds Champ: 5. Blocks Champ: 2. eFG% Champ: 1.
Career Averages: 16 PPG/ 12 RPG/ 1 APG/ .9 SPG/ 1.9 BPG/ .587 eFG%/ .566 FT%.
Best Season: 23/ 14/ 1/ 1.4/ 2.4/ .593/ .596 (2010-11).
Postseason Averages: 16 PPG/ 12 RPG/ 1 APG/ .8 SPG/ 2.1 BPG/ .591 eFG%/ .545 FT%.
Best Postseason: 20/ 15/ 2/ .9/ 2.6/ .601/ .636 (2009).
Championships: 1 (#4 player). Runner-ups: 1 (best player).
Why he's below Clyde Drexler: Dwight Howard was a dominant center at a time when there were no other dominant centers. He had little competition for all-league teams and all star appearances. Howard also went from being a great player to just a very good player by his mid-20s. That's why I have him below players like Patrick Ewing and Clyde Drexler who were good for a longer period than Howard was but won fewer awards because they played at the same time as other great players. Howard's relative lack of postseason success tells me he wouldn't have been as dominant if he'd played at the same time as other dominant centers.
Why he's above the rest: In a 4 year period from 2007-08 to 2010-11, Howard finished top-5 in MVP voting each year, won Defensive Player of the Year 3 times, made 1st Team All-NBA each year, and made the Finals once. It's easy to forget sometimes just how good Howard was when he was young and more athletic. And though his career decline began when he was only 26, he eventually figured out how to be a contributor to a winning team without having to be a star or even starting. I have him as the Lakers' #4 player coming off the bench for their championship, and he's a key contributor to the 76ers this season. His career statistics and awards look incredible (like he should be even higher than I have him ranked) except for his points. But I think you can make a case that if he'd scored more, it would have hurt his teams. His career eFG% is high enough that if he took an additional 5 shots per game and made 2 of them, it would still be higher than Hakeem's career eFG%. But would 2/5 shooting help his team or hurt it? Is a version of Dwight Howard who averaged 20 PPG with Hakeem's shooting percentages be better or worse than the version we got? I don't have an answer for that, but I won't criticize him for his scoring. I left it out of the previous paragraph intentionally.
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