50 Greatest NBA Players Without A Championship (Updated Through 2015-16)
By Phil Watson
5. Dwight Howard
Orlando Magic 2004-12, Los Angeles Lakers 2012-13, Houston Rockets 2013-16
The Orlando Magic had the top overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft and they used it to take phenom Dwight Howard from the Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy.
With the Magic, Howard was the Defensive Player of the Year three times (2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11), made six All-NBA teams, five All-Defensive teams and was a six-time All-Star. He also finished second in the MVP voting in 2010-11.
Howard won four rebounding titles with Orlando, led the league in blocks per game twice and had the top field-goal percentage in the NBA in 2009-10.
The Magic missed the playoffs in his first two seasons and were swept in the first round by the Detroit Pistons in 2007.
In 2008, Orlando knocked out the Toronto Raptors in five games before losing to the Pistons in five games in the second round.
The Magic were primed in 2009 and made a deep run, beating the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, taking a Game 7 from the Boston Celtics in the second round and upsetting the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. But in the NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers captured the title in five games.
Orlando swept the Charlotte Bobcats and the Atlanta Hawks in the 2010 playoffs before going down in six games to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. The following year, the Magic lost to Atlanta in the first round.
Howard missed Orlando’s first-round loss to the Indiana Pacers in 2012 with a back injury and in August 2012, he was moved to the Lakers as part of a four-team deal that included 12 players and four draft picks.
He earned his seventh All-NBA selection in Los Angeles as well as his seventh All-Star game bid while leading the NBA in rebounding for the fifth time.
But the Lakers were swept in the first round by the San Antonio Spurs and Howard signed a free-agent deal with the Houston Rockets in July 2013.
Howard picked up an eighth All-NBA selection and eighth All-Star nod with the Rockets, but Houston lost to the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the playoffs in 2014.
Howard missed half of the 2014-15 season because of a knee injury, but came back in the playoffs to help the Rockets to the Western Conference Finals, where they fell to the eventual champion Golden State Warriors.
The 2015-16 Rockets were a .500 team that was bounced in Round 1.
He is fifth in NBA history with a 58.2 field-goal percentage and is 13th all-time, averaging 12.7 rebounds per game. In 12 NBA seasons, he also averages 17.8 points, 2.1 blocks and 1.0 steals in 35.3 minutes a game.
Howard declined his $23.3 million option for 2016-17, choosing to become an unrestricted free agent.
The current tally on Howard’s playoff career:
NBA Finals: 0-1
Conference Finals: 1-2
Conference Semifinals: 3-1
First Round: 4-5
Next: 4. The Ringless Mound Of Rebound