It’s official, Dwight Howard is on his way to becoming the most dominate big man in the NBA. Not Yao Ming, Andrew Bynum, or Greg Oden; Dwight Howard leaps over his fellow skyscrapers fully equipped with cape and logo.
The 2008 All-Star game played second fiddle to the Slam Dunk Contest thanks to Howard and the Eastern Conference team stashing three Detroit Pistons on their bench, just in case the game became entertaining – but I digress.
Howard had the crowd, and fellow players, in awe after his first attempt . . . which was a missed dunk. After Howard’s tried to throw the ball off the backboard, catch it, and windmill dunk – from behind the basket, Kobe Bryant’s dumbfounded face epitomized the buzz of New Orleans Arena. Is he really going to pull that off, did he just do what I think he did, is that even humanely possible.
To everyone’s shock, it was. Howard executed the most impressive and creative dunk I have ever witnessed. After he missed his first attempt, I thought to myself, “No way.” After he successfully threw down the second try, I thought to myself, “No way.”
The 22 year-old Orlando Magic center went on to receive perfect scores of 50 on his remaining three dunks throughout the contest. Including the now infamous “Superman” dunk in which he jumped from slightly inside the free-throw line, off two-feet, and caught in alley-oop pass that was sent from behind the backboard. Howard is so big and jumped so high that you could only see his back from the lens of the floor-level cameraman.
Which brings me to why this young man is so special? Sure, the dunks were incredible; perhaps the best overall performance in the history of the Slam Dunk Contest, but what was most impressive was the raw specimen. As Charles Barkley constantly emphasized, “Never have we seen a player this tall be able to jump this high.”
At seven-feet tall, Howard is able to hang on the rim with merely a hop. He also possesses the ability to spring his 270-pound frame high enough for his lips to kiss the rim. It’s amazing when you see 6′-8″ players like LeBron James and Josh Smith with their heads at rim level. When you see a man with a seven-foot-eight wingspan utilize a vertical leap of 40-iches, well, that’s just unfair.
For instance, the young center leads all individuals with 185 dunks, more than 15 NBA teams. Collectively, the San Antonio Spurs have 68 dunks. Howard also leads the league in rebounds (14.6), double-doubles (46), is third in field goal percentage (60.2%), and fifth in blocks (2.43).
At this pace, he would be the youngest player ever to win the rebounding crown. What’s equally notable is Howard has managed to average 22 points a game this season with virtually no discernible offensive skills.
His raw talent is reminiscent of another charismatic, athletic, and Superman-enthusiast Orlando big man, Shaquille O’Neal. However, unlike Shaq, Howard’s focus is on the court.
The current Orlando center isn’t the media darling of Shaq’s younger years. Howard can even be described as socially awkward considering, while playing for this year’s national team, he was taped ‘rapping/beat boxing?’ the National Anthem. Not to mention, he proclaimed after the year’s Dunk Contest that his favorite song was “Superman” by Soulja Boy because he likes to dance.
No matter how much someone likes to dance, you can’t dance every time you hear that song. Hence, it can’t be your favorite. I know he doesn’t listen to Soulja Boy while in the car or before he goes to bed. A dance accompanies that noise because it’s humanely impossible to sit still and listen to the song without gauging your eyes out with a corkscrew.
Soulja Boy up in it hooooooo, know watch me superman that hooooooooo, now I’m mean yooooooouuuuu (crank that Soulja Boy), yoooooooooouuuuuuuu…
I don’t think so, and by the way the song is titled, “Crank that Soulja Boy,” another reason why I’m skeptical of Howard’s assertion.
Fortunately, Howard’s dorky demeanor, combined with his work ethic, keeps him away from the limelight and in the gym. His taste in music is limited but his basketball potential is infinite.
He’s already displayed his ability to fly and with the imminent addition of a few post moves and a mid-range jumper, it won’t be long until the Man of Steel dominates the league.
Until then, watch him crank that Soulja Boy, hooooooooooooo.
By Matt Martino
dude, near the end was he raping or rapping
Howard’s superman dunk was not a dunk. it should have been given a zero. because he didn’t dunk it. if they’re going to allow that, then there’s going to start being layups and stuff in the contest.
I really like Howard, but that was not a dunk.
Also, Kobe always has that dumb look on his face.
I agree with both points. Definetly not a dunk, but what can I say, I liked it. At first I was like that wasn’t even a dunk, but dude, he threw it down into the rim – i can let that slide.
I when you gonna give us another post. Slacker