Dwight Howard wasn’t included on the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. How did being left off the list impact him?
At one point in his career, Dwight Howard was a force to be reckoned with. Now, at 36-years-old, he’s more of a role player for the Los Angeles Lakers. When considering his career, the folks who made the NBA 75th Anniversary Team decided to leave Howard off the list.
When Taylor Rooks asked if he should make the cut for that list, Howard stated the following:
“I most definitely should be on that list, but it’s okay. It’s okay. 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 that never bounced a basketball before?’”
Dwight Howard apparently knew he wouldn’t make the NBA 75th Anniversary Team
Howard has an interesting perspective on all of this.
While he’s not currently one of the best players in the NBA, there was a period of time where he was clearly among the best. At one point in his career, Howard was a dominant center who few were truly able to keep up with or slow down. He’s accomplished quite a bit and has been in the NBA for an extensive period of time.
On top of that, he has some fundamental reasons to be satisfied with life. He’s still alive and breathing, which is generally a really good thing to appreciate and value, and he’s still able to do what he loves at a professional level.
It’s hard to blame him for even being remotely upset at the folks who wrote the list and clearly, even to some small degree, it did bother Howard a bit. But right now he’s on a team that could potentially make a run to the NBA Finals (if all the issues are ironed out and LeBron James is healthy), so he’s got more important things to focus on at the moment.
Howard’s legacy can be discussed at another time.