The Unreal Rise and Disastrous Fall of Dwight Howard 

Thought this was a rusty video for a second

“All time great shooter Javaris crittenton” 😂😂😂

Love your content! My aunt met Dwight in his early years, when he was on the Magic. She worked at a big mall in Orlando and he was the friendliest celebrity she met while working there. He had her teaching him how to salsa in the Body Shop lol 😂

Man you are growing with this quality content, always wondered about Dwight but never got around to learning about his career. Now I know, thank you!!

biggest snub in the 75th year team... but how he still never developed a decent post game after being coached/trained by kevin mchale and hakeem olajuwon is just mind blowing... once his athlethecism went away he was done even though he was still relatively young

you and Collector Car Feed are two of the most underrated content channels out there man, keep up the good work

Great production quality and a very interesting video. I just subbed, keep up the good work!

Started watching Dwight back in 2008-2009 (LONG THREAD) Here's the timeline (based on observation) 2008 & 2009 - He blossomed into a dominant bigman namely after gaining recognition from his 2008 slam dunk contest and any shot within the painted area is almost impossible due to his athleticism and defensive instincts, and underrated rebounding prowess. It also helped that Patrick Ewing was the assistant coach at the time which helped Dwight add some finesse in his low post scoring. With his talents awakened, only shaq was able to guard him 1 on 1 in the lowpost, as he exposed cleveland in the conference finals, and it took all of the Laker's bigmen to try to box him out during the finals 2010 - He was still rising up and still hasn't reached his prime at this point, the media was also getting in his head as he was in the same conversation as Kobe and Lebron in terms of being the best player in the league. All that fame made him overconfident but during the conference finals against boston he was exploited. The system of Orlando was always finding a way to drop it to Dwight via Pick n Roll which boston defended very well. Also his low post scoring wasn't helping the team at all as he has sub par low post scoring especially against Kendrick Perkins and KG. He still was an elite rebounder, one of the best all time. 2011 - He was at his peak during this time and was in the MVP conversation, He gave Miami, a perimeter based team a lot of trouble. He learned from Hakeem during the offseason from this time, and bulked up even more, which somehow made him slower unlike the previous years. The magic messed it up here, they traded depth for Hedo and Gilbert Arenas, a trade which included Marcin Gortat, his back up. Even with his dominance, he can't man the paint alone, that's why Atlanta beat them. 2012- the numbers are 28 pts and 15 rebounds, as expressed by shaq. He even said that Andrew Bynum was better and Dwight was just a Pick n Roll bigman, undermining his hall of fame defense and rebounding. These statements by Shaq got into his head ALL YEAR and following seasons and he forced himself to try and be what shaq wants him to be when it's not his game. He was trying to be Hakeem when his game is more similar to Shaq's but faster and more agile, you can see in his movements during this season, his low post scoring was like someone still practicing his moves but his best highlights were from backing down weak defenders or just 2 move postups, also lobs and pick n roll. Also it didn't help that his mindset was all about the fame and not the glory, this is also the year he got injured in the back. 2013 - Traded to LA, his mind set got exploited as he was teammates with the arguably the most competitive player in NBA history who was all about the rings, Dwight cared about marketing himself. The lakers were all about winning, but Dwight was all about Hollywood. You can clearly see during his time with the Lakers, the difference of the work ethic of the players during the game. He'd brick such bad free throws, and was the 3rd best low post bigman on the team with Kobe being 1st, and Gasol 2nd. He was still elite on the defensive end but offensively, he demanded so much low post that it was an automatic turnover. He wasn't happy due to not being the star that he was in orlando, therefore in conclusion, the system orlando was running made Dwight the player he is, when he got to LA which has a team based system, he sucked quick as he was not the focus now. 2013/2014 to 2016 - He tried to rejuvinate his career here by signing with Houston and form potentially a great duo with Harden, it was a great season for him, not orlando good but acceptable. His athleticism slightly declined but he was trying to do too much, being with hakeem almost everyday working on his subpar post game may have given him confidence, but it slowed the pace down which didn't help harden develop. He did carry that team during the series against portland against Lamarcus Aldridge but Dame killed them. During the 2015 season this is where Dwight got exploited in all aspects. He was still a great defensive asset no doubt, but the team experimented on low post scoring (dwight focused offense) and fast pace scoring with Harden at the helm. The team found more success with Harden but Dwight demanded more, you can see with the highlights, he wasn't happy with the pick n roll offense. 2015 playoffs, Dwight mainly scored via lobs, offensive rebounds, and via pick n roll, the team steamrolled pass the Mavericks with that system, 2nd round they destroyed the clippers coming back from 3-1, but lost to the up and coming dynasty warriors, one common thing about it? Dwight wasn't happy. 2016, he was dragging the organization down, he kept forcing himself in the lowpost even when they found success with Pick n Roll, Capela was a better bigman partner for Harden at this point as Dwight was just dragging his feet during this season, his bighead created discord within the locker room, as evident with the 1st round series against the warriors when Harden hit that game winner, no one was celebrating, as they were all stressed out and wanted the season over. 2017 - Dwight still thought of himself as a superstar, he went back home to his hometown in Atlanta to attract some marketing towards him but his play and decline wasn't helping atlanta win at all. Especially with Budenholzer's system a.k.a Spurs playbook which relied on ball movement and player movement in every part of the court, he was a blackhole and derailed the team drastically considering Atlanta was a top seed before dwight got there. 2018 - Charlotte Hornets, the writing was on the wall on Dwight. During this season he played like himself. No more overthinking on the low post, no more excessive movement, he was free to be himself (since his team sucked). Rebounding, defense, scoring down low, he even had highlights of dunking on ibaka via crossover, and recorded a 30-30 game against the nets. This was all pure Dwight all season. Off court issues also started to rise up from the surface from this. He was traded to BKN for mozgov, then waived. With someone as good as him on the court, there shouldve been no way he was waived that quick which means its an off court issue now. 2019 - Wizards. He came back with tattoos, low stamina, and twice as slow, you knew something was going on. He was not only derailing for the wizards who wanted to play fast, he was also a liability on offense. He did miss the rest of the season due to his spinal surgery. Traded again and waived, by the grizzlies. Then his off court issues rose from the surface derailing his career and put him in a very very bad light with the media, he kept himself inside a hole after. 2020 - One word. Redemption. He somehow accepted that he's not the Dwight of before (or did he), and focused on the things he was good at. Defense, Rebounding, and Pick n Roll, and his health both mentally and physically. He wasn't demanding the ball anymore in the lowpost, but mainly rebounded and created screens for Bron and AD to operate. He was the perfect back up for the injury prone AD who didn't have to handle banging down below that much with Dwight's presence. His genius defense was evident against Jokic during the Bubble Conference Finals, but before that, he barely played against portland and houston, his maturity during those times was evident and Dwight REDEEMED himself during this season, as a keypiece to the Lakers in their Championship season. Conclusion. Dwight is definitely a hall of famer, but his mindset of fame first before rings really derailed him. It also didn't help that Shaq was discrediting who Dwight is, but it's Dwight's fault too from trying to please Shaq at one point. If he matured from Kobe's mentorship rather than force the system to run through him (oh believe me kobe tried, at one point Kobe had 14 - 16 assists in a 3 or 4 game stretch back when Mike D'Antoni was hired to be LA's coach) it might've been a different CAREER. On the defensive end and rebounding, Dwight is top ten among the best in NBA history. Athleticism, he's probably top 5 among bigmen in NBA history. Offensively, orlando's system which is focused entirely on him, made him look great offensively, that's it.

All that partying killed his drive/career. I wanted him to be serious and locked in with Kobe.

Please continue to upload 💪

Something people forget is when he got traded to the lakers in 2012, he was still recovering from back surgery and rushed back way too early for the season opener because he was excited to play with Kobe, Nash, and Gasol. He did lose a bit of bounce but was still a top center in the NBA. What could’ve been had he not rushed back early?

You deserve way more subs

Him vs. Nate Robinson in the dunk contest was still amazing

I watched a Dwight era magic game where he had those crazy silver sleeves while tripping and I was convinced he was an action figure that came to life

The intro music is 🔥🔥

Yeah man that’s my thoughts on Dwight short prime and had on and off years as a journey man afterwards.

I wouldn’t say brutal. He won a championship with the Los Angeles lakers and is still playing ball over seas. He’s not exactly begging for spare change

man its been a minute since i last watched that 2nd dude in the intro. his name is JR right? somebody got tje channel?

This channel DESERVES waaaay more subscribers.

What's fhe channel name of this dude? I can't remember. @ 0:12

Can u do rise and fall of d rose

Lol i see what you did there with that all time shooter crittenton joke 🤝

This is really sad I hate seeing players limit their true potential and the what ifs they could’ve been

“All time great shooter Javaris critterton” 😂🤦🏽‍♂️

When he was a young star, his athleticism and strength were off the chart and could not be stopped in the paint. Then he came to Houston with a prime Harden. I'm thinking he has (2) of the greatest post players in NBA history (Dream, McHale) showing him the ropes now and improve his game, boy was I wrong. He lacked passion and the will to improve his craft and it's why he's playing overseas.

Still good career. Better than 99 percent of all players. Started as a guard. One thing is, why was his mid and long range shooting so bad if he played as a guard.

AD over Dwight on the nba 75 list was absurd

As a sixers fan, I watched him just a few years back kill it as a backup... makes no sense as to why he got blacklisted from the league imo

The year is 2026. Nuggets have dominated the NBA in all way possible: threepeat championships, 15/17 of the roster has been nominated in MVPs allstar allteam all the shit possible. All the east teams have been demoted to a new g-league called the E-League. Adam Silver, in a press conference admitting that he's a vampire, has announced the new NBA format: 100 games of Golden Denver Nuggets vs the world. 49 games in, the superteam of Lebron, Curry, and Dwayne wade has yet to beat the Joker team, 48-1 (the nuggs forfeited a loss due to horse race conflict). The world is ending as we know it. But on the 50th pregame, Draymond Worldpeace wrestled the mic away from MikeBreenAnnouncerBotgpt. But before he can utter a word, there was a struck of thunder, then smok. From the shadows appear, a man. A man of great history, of legend. A man one of the of all time. He was many things: he was a Atlantaw hawk, a taoyun lepard, a guangdong tiger, a shanghai shark, a san migel beerman. But today he a save us. He's name? Dwight Howard.

Bro do KG someday😁

You didn’t mention his stint with the sixers and then back to LA

Had all the physical gifts, but none of the heart.

7:50 the Cleveland lebrons lol

That 2012-13 lakers season was awesome because of Kobe. Before the injury he was torturing everyone.

And Dwight Still got a ring 🙏🙏🙏

Holy shi*t. As a very tall guy myself, I was 6'7 when I entered high school. I can't imagine growing that much in 4 years. ***I take that back, there is NO WAY he was 5'10 entering ninth grade. He's not growing a foot in one year. He had to be at least a couple inches taller entering high school.

day 1 of asking for how good was manu ginobili actually

All time great shooter is crazy 😂

All time great shooter man that really got me 😂

He's still got more rings than what most of them have? What happens if he's signed to lakers this season? Assumptions.

I'm an Orlando fan. I loved Dwight Howard. After the trade, I hate him. I don't think any Magic fan likes him anymore. A lot of us like Vooch more than him

How does this effect Gerald Henderson’s legacy 🤨

He messed up going to ball dominate players bro became a regular big man overnight.

Prime Dwight was a force

I mean all things aside I’m glad he ended up with a ring

Dwight should be top 75

nah, this dude said “Cleveland LeBron’s”

howard was good for a center but not complete enough like jokic to win a championship in orlando, he had to go to the lakers with AD and lebron to win

We need a “How Good Was Reggie Miller?” Video Stat!

Imagine if tmac had played with dwight

He got injured enough said

All I can think of now when someone mentions Dwight Howard is him farting on other players on purpose.

Kobe Bryant seems like he was a real pain in the ass to deal with.

Orlando Magic Dwight was Him

Who’s here after the Dwight Howard controversy…

D12 is top 5 greatest center period boii was godly 🐐🐐🔥🔥🔥🎥

Did it ever occur to everyone that Dwight Howard may have been overhyped? Maybe he wasn't as good as everyone is trying to make him out to be? He may be a hall of Famer because you let Chris Webber in without a ring. He's maybe a top 100 player, but hes not even a top 10 center all time.

He knocked out my Pacers with that European fellow Turkoglu. I'm glad he picked up a ring. He deserved it.

Swish drop the bomb

Gilbert Arenas next pleaseeeeeee Edit: Love these videos. This is another great one.

Jrsportsbrief lol classic

Idk if bro blackballed lol but there’s no reason Dwight shouldn’t be on a NBA roster if people like Deandre still get rotation minutes

Cong did get him a contract for only 75 php. So.. Yeah. Keep at it dwight.

Who do you wanna see next?

THE GAY ACCUSATIONS BROUGHT HIM DOWN!!!!!!! IT CHANGED HE STARTED TO GET TATTOOS AND CHANGE HIS HAIR COLOR TOO

One of the nasty things about Kobe was that soft shii he accused Dwight of Kobe always liked to act like he was the only tough guy in the room when he wasn’t alienating people and being rude just because you want to copy Mj he was never even close to the heights of Mj but liked to act like it don’t get me wrong he’s a great player but stupid antics like this is what casuals would focus on oh Kobe was a tough guy and not his actual game where he misses shots and just takes more cuz fuck it He really annoyed me while he played and him calling Dwight soft affected how a lot of people saw Dwight Kobe was just unnecessary tough like I’d understand Mj doing it he’s that good but Kobe ain’t even better than Duncan only his marketing is better than Timmy that’s it

I hope my Warriors Will Never Call him, despite what the casual idiots saying.

He is gay right? The court case etc ? i love that but his league doesnt.

dwight howard is honestly in the same conversation as draymond green. yall may not wanna hear it but he gets the hype and the pedestal bc of what he could have been and he was hyper athletic. we honestly overhype raw athletes w virtually 0 actual skill. dwight was as successful in his nba career as amare stoudamire, dray and kawhi have multiple dpoys but we still question 4-time champ dray's HOF resume and the media is flipping on kawhi too. dwight is out of the league bc of himself mostly tbh

Soft.

I actually blame the magic and the league more than anything. Dwight was built as the biggest most athletic wing coming out of high school who absolutely had point guard chops. Magic couldn't see the future though and just wanted him to gain 50 pounds and become the next Shaq. Imagine if they stopped pushing the dying post game down his throat and took advantage of his athleticism as a slashing or maybe even point forward. He was raw when he was young, you could have shaped him anyway. They could have looked into the future and turned him into an Uber athletic Draymond Green. Instead they looked to the past and tried to turn him into Olajuwon in a league where the post was going out of style. He met some success with that and just hit a wall in his growth where he essentially decided he was the best version of himself ans stalled his growth. But that high school scouting report wasn't wrong, he had a solid jumpshot and passing game. Magic just decided they didn't need any of that tried to make him the prototypical style Olajuwon type big man. One of the better what ifs in NBA history tbh.

Did he get caught with male prostitutes? Lol

Not saying he would make a big difference but i think he can guard the best big men 1v1

Howard was great for about 3 years only. He’s mainly just a typical diaper baby graced with size

RZA, GZA and DZA