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5 Players That Need To Cement A Legacy In The NBA Playoffs

By Josh Eberley

May 15, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) drives against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) during the fourth quarter in game six of the second round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
May 15, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) drives against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) during the fourth quarter in game six of the second round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /
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Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /

Dwight Howard, we hardly knew ye.

I could write 1,000 words easy on the Rockets’ failings at the trade deadline, on Houston’s high levels of talent and low levels of production. I could bring up the numerous reports on James Harden and Dwight Howard, showcasing the pair as poor leaders and as locker room dividers, but let’s not do any of that.

Instead, let’s zoom out on the Dwight Howard story. Howard wasn’t always depicted as a prick. In fact, long before he gutted the Orlando Magic from the inside, scorned the Los Angeles Lakers, and failed to land traction with the Houston Rockets, he was beloved. The guy was an elite talent. No offense to Derrick Rose, but Howard had a hell of a claim on the 2011 MVP award, he was a two-way force, and above all else, he was fun. (On four occasions Howard finished in the top five for MVP voting.)

From 2007-12 Howard averaged 20 points, 13.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game, shot almost 60 percent from the field and won three Defensive Player of the Year Awards. It just doesn’t get much better than that.

Howard is one of only three players to have three or more Defensive Player of the Year Awards, with the other two being Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace. Prime Howard was infinitely better than either of his peers offensively. He was the only one of the three who took a team to the Finals as “the guy.” There’s distance between him and comparable parties.

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5 worst starters of the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard era
5 worst starters of the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard era /

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    • Howard had a career we should all be in awe of. Unfortunately, we only see his failures. Part of that is his fault, and part of that is the social media craven society we now live in. People overreact in the moment and the internet never forgets.

    To showcase just how good Howard was in Orlando prior to the steep decline of his career, from 2007-12 he averaged 20 points, 13.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game, shot almost 60 percent from the field and won three Defensive Player of the Year Awards. It just doesn’t get much better than that.

    Fast-forward to this year’s deadline, Howard in Daryl Morey’s living room looking like the Fresh Prince of Houston — nobody wanted him, man. Howard’s career is floating steadily to the bottom, a poorly skipped rock on the pond. The Rockets are in a place of turmoil and chances are they won’t make a real run in the NBA playoffs this season.

    But at the end of the day, a championship for Howard would mean an awful lot to how he’s remembered. It might not undo the last four years of chaos, but it might just bring to light some more of the facts — evidence that supports this man was one hell of a basketball player if nothing else.

    Next: Melo