Lakers: Longtime LA Opponent Makes Hall Of Fame Case For Dwight Howard
Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson of Bovada Sports recently spoke with longtime Detroit Pistons great/Los Angeles Lakers irritant Ben Wallace about a variety of topics in a typically wide-ranging and insightful conversation.
For the purposes of this article, Wallace reflected on three-time Lakers center Dwight Howard, now with Taiwan's Taoyuan Leopards. Howard played for three very different LA teams, during three different stages of his career: first, he was still near his All-Star, Defensive Player of the Year peak alongside a star-studded, chemistry-free LA club with future Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Steve Nash (though Nash was pretty cooked by this point). Next, he returned to serve as a key bench big for the 2019-20 championship-winning club top-lined by LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Finally, Howard may have played his final league minutes last year, on an absolutely abysmal 33-49 club hampered by injuries to its two best players and saddled with several vets who have yet to find a home in the NBA this season. All told, Howard was an eight-time All-Star (he's also an All-Star in Taiwan's T1 League this season), an eight-time All-NBA honoree, a five-time All-Defensive Teamer, and a three-time Defensive Player of the Year. His 2020 championship pedigree should seal the deal.
"Dwight Howard... for me, I'm going to say yes, but I think his game got a little off track once he got traded from Orlando, I don't think he recognized the dynamic of the trade, going from a team that you're the man of, going to another team where you've got to play somebody else's style of basketball [the 2012-13 Lakers]," Wallace said. "I thought when in Orlando, I thought he controlled the pace and tempo. He dictated the pace and tempo of the team. And [he] went to LA, he wasn't able to do that. But from what he did in Orlando, I think he should be in there."
Wallace, whose Pistons appeared in two consecutive NBA Finals in 2004 and 2005, beating your Lakers in a five-game demolition in '04, is currently serving Detroit's basketball operations and team engagement advisor. He himself was a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, a four-time All-Star, a five-time All-NBA inclusion, and a six-time All-Defensive Teamer. Wallace was named was named to the Hall of Fame in 2021.
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