Dwight Howard was one of the most notable omissions from the NBA 75th Anniversary Team that was announced earlier this year.
Though he’s no longer in his prime, Howard has one of the best résumés we’ve seen over the past decade. He’s an eight-time All-Star, three-time Defensive Player of the Year, and NBA champion.
In an exclusive interview with GQ, Howard talked about being snubbed from the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. Howard admit that it was tough seeing his name left off the list.
“I think that what I have done in my career, there’s no way it cannot be recognized,” Howard said, via GQ. “It was upsetting, at first. But, I didn’t take it too seriously. I felt before that I wasn’t gonna be on it because it felt like [the NBA] was trying to phase me out. People think I’m trying to blame the NBA for certain things, but I look at how certain things have happened in my career and I know some of these things are not on me. I’ve watched how I rarely get talked about when they mention [the Lakers]. It’s like I’m an afterthought. Like damn.”
Howard then said he’s going to use this experience as motivation to find other ways to make an impact.
“I’ve been in the league a long time. I’ve made an impact on every team I’ve been on, on and off the court, and it never gets recognized. So, I thought it was kind of crazy, but I figured I’d get the short end of the stick. I told my friends and the people I’m close to that I’m gonna start working harder and find other ways to generate positive messages to people. Making a list like that is only to get everybody riled up. To try to compare people’s careers, that doesn’t matter. To compare somebody to somebody else? No. We’re all unique individuals. This is a waste of energy.”
Howard has every right to be upset about being left off the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. There aren’t 75 players in the history of the league with better résumés than his.
Maybe once Howard retires in a few years from now he’ll get the respect he deserves. For now, it seems like the NBA community is dismissing the future Hall of Famer’s accomplishments.
Do you think Howard deserved to make the NBA 75th Anniversary Team?
The post Dwight Howard Has Blunt Reaction To NBA 75 Team Snub appeared first on The Spun.