Joel Embiid has been a frontrunner for the MVP for two seasons in a row, his dominance in the middle position was a beauty to watch. While injuries have constantly confused the great man of the Philadelphia 76ers, he has shown time and time again exactly why he is currently considered one of the best players in the NBA.
This is in stark contrast to Dwight Howard, who is still a free agent despite it being over a month since free agency started. However, thanks to how his career has been watered down, many forget what a beast Dwight was in his prime. His comparison to Anthony Davis shows that Howard has had a career that he believes is likely worthy of a place in the Hall Of Fame.
And recently, NBA fans have been doing their favorite thing on Reddit, which is asking which player is better. Joel Embiid, or an excellent Dwight Howard. And while the answers are varied, it’s easy to see the respect most fans still have for Dwight.
‘Yes, but actually no. I don’t know. Perhaps.’
“Dwight beat prime LeBron to lead Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals, why are we even debating this at all?”
“2 different types of players who, for the most part, play in different eras. Hard to compare.”
“Defensive Dwight Babies Embiid. Offensive Embiid Babies Dwight.”
“That would be a nice match-up anyway.”
“I would say no. Prime Dwight was a defensive monster and an average player on the offensive.”
“I don’t have an opinion one way or the other, but to say Dwight is better because his team was more successful is really lazy.”
“I mean prime D12 led his team to the finals, so past a solid young LeBron Cavs led.”
“Dwight is more old school in the sense that he plays like a traditional piglet, but there’s a reason more bigs play like Embiid.”
“Prime Dwight couldn’t shoot the rock. Embiid by a mile.’
“Embiid isn’t just going into his best years, he’s probably in the middle of it. Given his injury history, there’s a good chance he’s closer to the end of his best years than the beginning.”
It seems that fans are quite divided on this topic, and it’s really hard to pick one or the other in these situations. The only truth, though, is that Dwight Howard often doesn’t get the respect he deserves for how good he was. It’ll be curious to see where he ends up on everyone’s Top 100 lists when all is said and done.