Dwight Howard Snubbed From NBA 75th Anniversary Team and People Are Furious
The NBA's 75th anniversary team was released on Thursday and among the decisions made on the list, one seems to have everyone riled up. Dwight Howard was snubbed, and people are not happy about it. Arguably the most dominant big man since Shaquille O'Neal, Howard seemed a shoo-in for the list. Apparently he wasn't good enough.
It's worth running down Howard's accomplishments before we delve into people's reactions. He's an eight-time All-Star, a five-time All-NBA First Team member and made the second team once, He's a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, and made the All-Defensive first team four times, and the second team once. Howard led the NBA in rebounding five times and blocks twice and was a key part of the Los Angeles Lakers' championship run in 2020.
As I said, people couldn't believe Howard was left off the list. Here's a sampling of the reactions to his snub.
.@KendrickPerkins was NOT happy about Bill Walton making the NBA 75 team over Dwight Howard.
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 22, 2021
"That is the most disturbing thing I've seen in the last six months." pic.twitter.com/Vb1zt89jT4
"Dwight Howard not being on the NBA 75th Anniversary Team is an indictment on the entire list. It makes it seem like the cool kids lunch table rather than the most prestigious group in NBA history. ... His résumé is not borderline top 75, it's borderline top 45." — @getnickwright pic.twitter.com/CJfaB3xfCQ
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) October 22, 2021
I’ll not discuss who should be off but I do want to discuss that DWIGHT HOWARD has been disrespected and should be on!!!!
— Richard Jefferson (@Rjeff24) October 22, 2021
Dwight Howard made eight All-NBA teams, including five first teams. The five first teams puts him 25th all time. There are multiple players on the list with zero first-team spots. This is not a bulletproof metric but I don't understand how people don't realize how good he was.
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) October 22, 2021
NBA players sound off on #NBA75 snub pic.twitter.com/mdsD1XfrJN
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 22, 2021
Congrats to all the players that made NBA75 Anniversary Tm, but Dwight Howard should’ve made this tm. Media and players former and current might not like him because he joked around a lot. His resume says, he’s one of the 75 best NBA players of all time. ??????
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) October 22, 2021
How does Damian Lillard make it over Dwight Howard? How?
— 500 ? (@Kameron_Hay) October 21, 2021
Dwight Howard not making the NBA Top 75 with this resume is insane pic.twitter.com/kqnLBKT4Kp
— Ahmed/Ben Simmons tricked me ?? (@big_business_) October 21, 2021
There's no argument for Damian Lillard to make that Top 75 list over Dwight Howard pic.twitter.com/2RR1s8V2JH
— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) October 21, 2021
Dwight Howard not making the 75th team is just wrong, man. His first 9 years were more impactful than AD’s and there’s really no debate on that.
— Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) October 21, 2021
Dwight Howard is the biggest snub and most disrespected player of all-time
— LegendOfWinning (@LegendOfWinning) October 21, 2021
8x All-NBA
8x All-Star
5x All-Defense
3x DPOY
5x REB Champ
2x BLK Champ
2020 Champ
not top 75(76) WTF... https://t.co/aGpr6qP8Wz
Dwight Howard has more All-NBA selections (8) than any other player left off the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team.
— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) October 21, 2021
Howard has as many All-NBA selections as Dave DeBusschere, Kevin McHale, Earl Monroe, Dennis Rodman, Nate Thurmond, Wes Unseld, Lenny Wilkens, and James Worthy combined.
As you can see, people are pretty fired up about this and I agree it's a massive mistake. Howard was incredibly dominant early in his career and it feels like people have simply forgotten what he could do.