Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard had social media buzzing when the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team was announced. The NBA included AD in that list while Howard was conspicuously absent. On “Game Theory,” Sam Vecenie analyzed Davis and Howard’s careers. Here’s what he had to say about how the NBA’s 75th team selection committee got it wrong:
“Dwight Howard is a no-question Hall of Famer. The fact that he didn’t make the NBA’s 75th team is kind of an embarrassment to the NBA 75 in my opinion. … He was a consensus five-top player in the league for a five-year period. Kawhi Leonard can’t even say that! … Anthony Davis, who made the NBA 75th team, can’t really even say that.”
“We need to remember to respect Dwight Howard’s first 10 years in the NBA.”
In his first 10 years in the NBA, Howard averaged 18.3 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. He won the rebounding title five times and was the block champion twice. Howard was also the best player of the 2009 Orlando Magic, who lost to Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers in the Finals.
Howard was a big reason the Finals between LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers and Bryant’s Lakers’ did not materialize. In Orlando’s Eastern Conference Finals win against the Cavs, “Superman” averaged 25.8 PPG, 13 RPG and 1.2 BPG.
Dwight Howard is the only player in NBA history with 3 straight DPOY’s…All time great defender🙌 https://t.co/j17qclSMGy
Howard was also an 8x All-NBA team member and was the Defensive Player of the Year for three consecutive years. In league history, only Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo have won more DPOY awards than “D12.”
Vecenie didn’t say that Anthony Davis didn’t deserve to be on the 75th Anniversary team. However, he said that if AD was there, the NBA should have included Howard.
Dwight Howard’s accomplishments are significantly better than Anthony Davis’ resume
Here’s a quick look at the accolades between the two future Hall of Famers:
The differences are too glaring to ignore, which is why Howard’s omission and Davis’ inclusion caused an uproar.
Sam Vecenie summarized the difference between the two big men:
“Anthony Davis has two top-five MVP finishes. But I don’t really think that there really ever was a case that he should have won the award in a single year.”
“He has half as many MVP top-five as Dwight Howard does. I think Dwight Howard’s career has been drastically underrated if we’re putting Anthony Davis on an NBA 75th team.”
Dwight Howard was snubbed from the NBA’s top 75 list https://t.co/5mUABvTAJT
Both only won one championship, but Dwight Howard had a far more impressive career as a franchise player than Anthony Davis. While “Superman” took his team to the NBA Finals, AD won only one playoff series without LeBron James.
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