Dwight Howard’s Peak Makes First-Ballot Hall Entry a Slam Dunk
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Dwight Howard is set to enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend in Springfield, Massachusetts, headlining an eight-person class and capping a career that features eight All-Star appearances, eight All-NBA selections and three consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards.
A résumé unmatched by most modern centers
As of 2021, only 26 players in league history had earned at least five first-team All-NBA nods; Howard was the lone member of that group left off the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. He also stands as the only post-3-point-era player with three or more first-team berths who failed to make that celebratory list.
Howard’s statistical peak rivaled legends but arrived and faded quickly. Over his first eight seasons he accumulated 78.6 wins above replacement (WAR), according to Basketball-Reference. By comparison, fellow Hall of Fame center Robert Parish logged 54.3 WAR in his first eight campaigns yet surpassed Howard in career longevity, producing 55.4 WAR after that span while Howard added 27.0.
Dominance defined his prime
From 2007-08 through 2011-12, Howard earned five straight first-team All-NBA honors, a streak matched among centers only by Shaquille O’Neal and George Mikan. His MVP finishes in those seasons were second, fourth, fourth, fifth and seventh, confirming top-five status regardless of position. During the same stretch he led the league in dunks six years running (2005-06 through 2010-11) and played at least 78 games in every campaign.
Howard is one of four players with at least three Defensive Player of the Year trophies—the others are Rudy Gobert, Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace—yet he far outpaced that trio offensively, finishing his career with more total points than Mutombo and Wallace combined.
Orlando’s ahead-of-its-time attack
Under coach Stan Van Gundy, the late-2000s Orlando Magic surrounded Howard with shooters such as Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu and Ryan Anderson. From 2007-08 to 2011-12 the club led the NBA in three-point attempt rate each season, according to Cleaning the Glass, while allowing the league’s fewest shots at the rim in four of those five years.
The approach paid off in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals, where Orlando upset the 66-win Cleveland Cavaliers. Howard delivered 40 points in the clinching Game 6 and averaged 20.0 points, 15.0 rebounds and 2.6 blocks that postseason—production matched in Finals years only by Bob Pettit, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Tim Duncan, Moses Malone, Dave Cowens, Elgin Baylor and Mikan.
Later seasons and perception
Howard was last an All-Star at age 28. Back surgery and a trade request ended his Magic tenure in 2012, and he changed teams in each of his final six seasons. Despite that nomadic phase, he contributed to the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2019-20 championship, sharing center duties with JaVale McGee to free Anthony Davis for power forward minutes.
Critics often cite Howard’s 57% career free-throw shooting, high turnover rate and post-up inefficiency—he ranks 62nd out of 65 players with at least 1,000 tracked post-ups since 2013-14, per GeniusIQ—as reasons for his exclusion from certain historical lists. Yet his early-career heights and award haul place him among the game’s most decorated big men.
Howard’s legacy also includes starting at center for the 2008 Olympic “Redeem Team” and reviving the All-Star Weekend dunk contest with his 2007 “sticker dunk.”
This weekend’s induction recognizes that, despite a turbulent second act, Dwight Howard’s peak production and accolades firmly warrant first-ballot Hall of Fame status.
Source: ESPN
