Where Does Dwight "Superman" Howard Rank for the Best Centers to Ever Play?

[dyna]

Top 15

[WillyJakk]

Not true. He was a 6'9-6'11 (somewhere in there) highly physically gifted big man, who was really athletic, excellent leaping ability, could run the floor pretty well, had huge length and world class athlete.

IMO, he was one of the most physically gifted and athletic players ever.

Sounds like a description of a young Marcus Camby to me.

Everytime the debate comes up w/ older players I hardly see any posts where there isn't a disregard for the racial aspect during time of said player.

Russ was definitely a great athlete as were many other men of color during his time period, Russ was one the few who actually got a chance to show it cause that was just the way of the World.

Now what DOES separate players while making them comparable regardless of any era is their mind, did they or didn't they have an inherent understanding of the game and Bill Russell had a true basketball mind but again it leads back to the point of Dwight Howard just now entering his prime, will he become an even smarter player?

Who knows, only time will tell.

[Teanett]

Sounds like a description of a young Marcus Camby to me.

dude, that major disrespect.
young marcus camby couldnt stay on the court for more than 3 games without getting hurt. could young marcus camby ever clear his height in high jump?

[Pushxx]

11-16 range.

[chocolatethunder]

He won't catch Shaq, Wilt, Russel, Moses, Kareem. DRob and Ewing are possible. Walton is hard to rank, as are Unseld and Reed due to their era. Zo definitely isn't better than him.

He'll easily crack the top 10 IMO

What you're saying is just silly. Catch Robinson? You must not have seen him play. He is so underrated on this board because of Hakeem and because he didn't win until late in his career. Howard isn't half the player Robinson was. The sh*t that comes out of some people's mouths around here is insane.

[HurricaneKid]

TIER 1
Wilt
Kareem
Russell

Tier 2
Shaq
Dream

Tier 3
Moses
DRob
Mikan

Tier 4
Ewing
Walton

I think I already have him above Ewing and Walton so that would put him at 9. So yeah, top 10.

[embersyc]

Until he starts winning championships he is not in the discussion of most dominant centers, period.

[La Frescobaldi]

TIER 1 Wilt Kareem Russell

Tier 2 Shaq Dream

Tier 3 Moses DRob Mikan

Tier 4 Ewing Walton

I think I already have him above Ewing and Walton so that would put him at 9. So yeah, top 10.

**************************
That's not bad actually. IMO you have left out some guys that are above Howard, namely
Nate Thurmond
Bob Lanier
Willis Reed

I cant agree that Howard is better than Ewing.

I'm not sure between Howard and Cowens.

[rodman91]

Not in top 10.

[Kblaze8855]

see, this is where ISH has double standards. clearly, if he played in the 60's with Russell, D12 would be the superior player.

I dont think he would be considered better really. Especially now when Wilt isnt even generally ranked over russell(if so not by much). What is he gonna do that Wilt wasnt? Wilt can drop 100, grab 55 rebounds, hand out 20 assists, block 25 shots, shoot 70%, and have playoff quadruple doubles. He could do anything he wanted.

Russell still won. What is Dwight gonna do? Put up the same 35-40ppg as wilt.....pull down rebounds like crazy. And probably lose anyway. Hes not gonna drop 80 a game. Hes not gonna just score at will to the point other teams cant win.

He could easily put up Walt bellamy numbers(30/20) and have people saying he couldnt doninate today. What would you even see out of a 1960 Dwight? He cant do all the flashy dunks. None of that dunk contest shit. Nobody throws lobs to the rafters. He would be doing dunks on the break that nobody today would see. Blocking shots that wouldnt be counted. Dominating someone who looks like they arent good competition even if they are.

60s Dwight would have great numbers but probably 90% of ISH would be saying he couldnt be elite today.

[I.R.Beast]

Howard IS dominant tho.

But he isn't as good as other greats.

Howard is not Dominant....given the lack of overall talent at the Center position he should have better production and more consisent production at center.

He's definately noot top 10.

[c3z4r]

he definitely is dominant, at least from a defensive standpoint. People forget that howard can't camp in the key because of the defensive 3seconds rule, but even with this rule he still averages a high number of blocks and rebounds, comparable with other all time great centers.

Let's not underrate the effect this rule had on centers. For example mutombo's number regarding blocks went down after the rule was implemented and even shaq's went down.

[BlueandGold]

He's only halfway through his career so it's tough to say. What he did in 09 was nothing to sneeze at, getting the Magic through a 66win cleveland team and then putting up ridiculous rebounding/blocking totals in the finals (believe he set/tied the finals single game blocking record).

I'd say he'll be firmly in the top10 when it's said and done. Top-tier all-time great centers like Shaq/Hakeem/Russell/Wilt are definitely ahead of him but i'd have to say he's better than other centers such as Artis Gilmore/Walton (because of injuries)/Parish/etc. If you compare Dwights numbers to the "other" great centers of different time periods they definitely compare if not exceed those numbers.

He could easily put up Walt bellamy numbers(30/20) and have people saying he couldnt doninate today. What would you even see out of a 1960 Dwight? He cant do all the flashy dunks. None of that dunk contest shit. Nobody throws lobs to the rafters. He would be doing dunks on the break that nobody today would see. Blocking shots that wouldnt be counted. Dominating someone who looks like they arent good competition even if they are.

60s Dwight would have great numbers but probably 90% of ISH would be saying he couldnt be elite today.

This type of comparison (cross-generational) is an absurd one to make. Going backwards or forwards in time. Saying a great player like Russell would not dominate in today's game is flawed logic because you don't know how he would adapt to better equipment, training, pace of game, etc. Inversely the point that you are making (dwight playing in the 1960s) would have the same problems because you also cant predict how Dwight would have responded to the differences in the NBA back then as well.

[flipogb]

15-20

[NugzHeat3]

From the guys I've seen, he's certainly not better than O'Neal, Olajuwon, Robinson or Ewing.

I'm just looking at how good they were at their best so longevity is sort of irrelevant here.

He's roughly on the same level as Yao and Zo and above Daugherty who was better offensively but not the defensive anchor Dwight was. Their athleticism seperates the two since it allows Dwight to do more things on the court.

I want to say Yao was better because he always dominated him head to head and he would probably do that to 2011 Dwight too because it's a match up issue. Dwight doesn't have the perimeter/face up game to really exploit Yao's defensive weakness which is quickness on the perimeter/pick and roll defense. Yao was strong as hell in the lower body so Dwight couldn't establish deep position or get around him easily.

But health is probably too big of an issue for Yao because he couldn't really go heavy minutes and even then, he was still pretty injury prone. I also thought Yao could've been more aggressive though Houston always had trouble getting him the ball when fronted and I'd say the rule changes had something to do with as well since the guy helping from the weakside would be roaming around which would be illegal in the 90s.

Zo and Dwight are roughly equal at their peak and you can side with either. Dwight is better than Zo pre-1999 though. Zo was too flawed of a player before. I'd side with 2000 Zo because his offensive game had greatly improved (jump hooks with either hand, put the ball on the floor better, better passer out of double teams, better FT shooter) from say 1997 where he got rattled easily (Rodman, LJ) and wasn't as polished.

Dwight is probably better on pick and roll defense and definitely better on the glass though Zo went up for so many blocks that he was often out of position. I'm only giving Zo the edge because he was a bit meaner and tougher. I like that trait as an intangible. He had the intimidation factor going for him which kind of shows in how many times he challenged guys. Dwight doesn't really have the same aggression he did.