Dwight Howard Wasn’t Shocked at All to Hear He Had Been Egregiously Snubbed From the NBA 75 Team: ‘Who Cares About a List Made by People Who Ain’t Never Bounced a Basketball Before?’
The NBA opened its 75th season in style, unveiling a list of the game’s top 75 players of all time. While many modern superstars made the cut, there were several notable snubs, perhaps none greater than Dwight Howard. Now, weeks after the dust has settled, the Los Angeles Lakers big man revealed how he wasn’t surprised to see his name left off of the celebratory list.
Dwight Howard was excluded from the NBA 75 team
It’s been a while since Howard was considered one of the best players in the NBA. His last All-Star Game came in 2014, which then led to an eight-year run spent with six different clubs. But his career as a whole is full of accolades and achievements that easily vault him into the same stratosphere as many all-time greats.
At age 35, Howard has earned eight All-NBA teams and eight All-Star appearances. He has won five rebounding titles and led the league in blocks twice, all before the age of 28. In addition to averaging 16.1 points through 18 seasons, Superman is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and five-time All-Defense selection. On top of everything, Dwight finally earned an elusive championship in 2020 with the Lakers.
Several players and media members were irate seeing Howard left off of the list. One of them, Richard Jefferson, took to Twitter and wrote, “I’ll not discuss who should be off but I do want to discuss that DWIGHT HOWARD has been disrespected and should be on!!!!” Nick Wright of FS1 also chimed in, saying on First Things First how Howard’s resume is “borderline top 45,” let alone top 75.
Howard said he wasn’t surprised he missed the cut
It doesn’t take a basketball genius to see how Howard warrants a spot on the 75th Anniversary team. But the big man himself knew there was a slim chance he’d make it.
Dwight sat down with Bleacher Report and asked about his immediate reaction upon hearing he didn’t crack the team. Even before the question ended, the 35-year-old got real.
“I knew I wasn’t going to be on it,” Howard told BR’s Taylor Rooks, citing “politics” as the reason why. “I knew as soon as they made a 75 list, I said, ‘Yeah, they ain’t gonna put me on the 75 list.’ Forget about it.”
Howard was then asked if he feels he should be on the list. That, of course, was a no-brainer in the mind of “The Daily Double.”
“I most definitely should be on that list,” Dwight answered. “But it’s OK, it’s so OK. I’m not upset about it. I was, for probably like 30 seconds. But I said, ‘You know what? Life is great. I’m alive. I’m still playing basketball in my 18th season. Who cares about a list made by people who ain’t never bounced a basketball before? Who cares?'”
Dwight Howard can still add to his legacy
If Howard’s goal is to add more All-NBA selections or rebounding titles to his loaded resume, he’s in for a bad time. But that doesn’t mean D12 can’t further prove why his exclusion was downright ridiculous.
Dwight is quickly approaching Nate Thurmond on the all-time rebounding list. With just 150 more boards, Howard will move up to tenth all-time. As it stands, every player in the top-15 with the exception of Howard is retired and enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame. In addition, should he win one more championship, he’d join Hakeem Olajuwon, Dennis Rodman, and Kawhi Leonard as the only players in league history with multiple DPOY awards and multiple NBA titles.
Dwight may not be on the NBA 75 list, but he should eventually be a slam dunk Hall of Famer. Let’s hope “politics” don’t ruin that for Superman, as well.
All statistics courtesy of Basketball Reference.
