Dwight Howard Has Gotten The Nod And Will Enter Basketball Immortality As A First Ballot Hall Of Famer

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A few days ago when we learned that Carmelo Anthony was heading to the Hall of Fame as a first ballot player, in that blog I talked about how it was only a matter of time before we learned the same thing would be true for the other no brainer nominee in the 2025 Class, Dwight Howard.

Last night, we got the news that he, too would be joining Melo in the HOF as a well deserved first ballot player

As I said in the Melo blog, how you view this decision tells me everything I need to know about your ball knowledge. Just like with Melo, this was the easiest no brainer in the history of no brainers. The resume speaks for itself

- 8x All Star

- 8x All NBA (5 1st teams, 1 2nd team, 2 3rd teams)

- 5x All Defense (4 1st teams, 1 2nd team)

- 3x DPOY

- 5x Rebounding Champ

- 2x Blocks Champ

- All Rookie

- NBA Champion

- 1x Gold Medal winner

Now that he's a first ballot HOFer, it remains absolute bullshit that Dwight was left off the Top 75 Anniversary team when you had guys like Dame and AD make it. I mean, what are we doing? Dwight Howard was one of the most dominant two way players of his era. That is a fact, not an opinion. I know for some, the early/mid 2000s seem like a long time ago, but as someone who was there and watched it, this was special stuff

The impact that Dwight made on both ends of the floor was something we hadn't really seen since Shaq. The fact that he was so dominant and so impactful all while not really having a crazy offensive arsenal was what was so impressive. For all the complaining that guys don't play like they used to, you'd think Dwight would be appreciated more, given he was a throwback player in that regard. Defensively, you had to double him. If you didn't, he simply overpowered you. Offensively, he completely took away anything you wanted to do at the rim. Don't even think about scoring in the paint while he was on the floor. Given 3pt shooting wasn't all that popular back then, that was huge.

I'm also of the belief that had Courtney Lee not smoked this layup back in Game 2 of the 2009 Finals, Dwight may very well have won a title with the Magic, and who knows how that would then change the course of NBA history. That was tough

So congrats to Dwight Howard on becoming the 56th player ever to be a first ballot HOFer. It's a list that is comprised of the true legends of the NBA, so while being left off the Top 75 team had to sting, at least history will accurately reflect his dominance when it came to his era. Not a terrible consolation prize if you ask me.