UNCASVILLE — Dwight Howard will be officially enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday just three years after his final NBA season. The eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA honoree and three-time Defensive Player of the Year is a first-ballot entrant and is still coming to terms with his induction at age 39 while he believes he’s still capable of playing NBA basketball.
“When I first got the call, after I cried, I was like, ‘Man, I thought I was gonna get in when I was like 60 or something.’” Howard said Friday at his Hall of Fame press conference. “I’m 39, and I’m in the Hall of Fame. I’m just thankful that my kids and my family and my mom and dad and grandparents get a chance to see me get this award, and I’m at a very young age to where, I’m not old. I’m just grateful.”
Howard piled up five first-team All-NBA honors as he turned the Orlando Magic into an NBA contender just four years after being selected as the No. 1 overall pick. However, his limitations (free throw shooting) and lack of championship success until late in his career (2020 Lakers win) made him a frequent target of critics, especially during the second half of his NBA career.
Howard took aim at those detractors as he reflected on a 18-year NBA career.
“People gonna always have something to say about my career and what they thought I should have did or how I should’ve did this and that but, at the end of the day, my peers have given me the props and the confidence and knowing that I belong right where I’m at,” Howard said. “Obviously the people in the Hall of Fame felt the same way for me to be inducted at such a young age, for me to have played in the NBA for so long and have been consistent with my effort and energy since day one.
“I feel like that is what it’s gotten me here. Whoever doesn’t like it, so what? It doesn’t take away from the fact that tonight I will be receiving my orange jacket, my ring, and tomorrow I’m gonna be edged in stone forever, so it doesn’t matter what nobody says. Forever, my name will be a part of basketball.”
Howard took pride in how his defensive identity helped separate him from the best centers of his era and put him among the best in Springfield.
“I know a lot of people have spent so much time talking about offense and offense is more sexier and it looks good,” Howard said. “Everybody loves the score and stuff like that, but, the job that I’ve had to do for so long it’s one of the hardest jobs in basketball to protect everybody on the court and it’s just difficult. You gotta be in the most shape, you gotta have the thicker skin, and you have to be able to really just demand, dominance and respect from everyone that’s around you. I was able to accomplish that. Defense or not, I’m in here for my energy and what I brought to the game of basketball.”
Howard will be officially inducted at the MassMutal Center on Saturday night by a host of Hall of Fame greats including Shaquille O’Neal, Patrick Ewing, Robert Parish, Dennis Rodman and Dominique Wilkins.
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