When Dwight Howard gets inducted into the Hall of Fame, he will be remembered for his phenomenal run with the Orlando Magic and winning a title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. He did spend a season with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2020-21.
Howard was the backup to Joel Embiid and provided good minutes for Philadelphia. He averaged 7.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks while playing in 69 games at 17.3 minutes per night. He was terrific in his overall NBA career and has earned his spot in the Hall of Famer due to his production on the court.
HoopsHype ranked the top 20 centers in NBA history and Howard comes in ranked No. 15 on the list:
At one time, Dwight Howard was the best big man in the NBA, an era that lasted for multiple seasons during his time with the Magic. Howard was an awe-inspiring athlete for his size, who would often sky for rebounds, block shots or finish alley-oops. Like Pau Gasol, Howard was another glaring omission from the NBA75 list despite being a Top 11 rebounder ever, ranking 15th all-time in blocks and having three Defensive Player of the Year awards. But that might have to do with him not being that well-liked by coaches and teammates during his time in the league.
Howard was also a huge playoff performer, coming up big both when he was a star with the Magic (he impressively led them to the Finals in 2008-09) and as a role player with the Lakers, finally winning a title in 2019-20.
Howard, who was shockingly left off the top 75 players of all time list for the league’s 75th anniversary, averaged 18.4 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks during his run in Orlando while guiding the Magic to the finals in 2009.