Dwight Howard is different from the other personalities in the basketball world. Quite an eccentric character, Howard is known for being unique. Not just his antics, but his selection for the all-time starting five was also pretty peculiar, as seen in the clip posted by ‘shaqwithme‘ on Instagram.
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On a podcast appearance, the former three-time Defensive Player of the Year had three common picks for this hypothetical lineup – LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Shaquille O’Neal (despite their longstanding beef). However, Howard’s selection for the small forward and power forward position was slightly uncommon – Dominique Wilkins and himself.
“All-time starting five. Point guard, I’m going with LeBron. Michael Jordan, that’s my two… He gave Michael Jordan buckets, I’m going with Dominique Wilkins. My four-man – Dwight Howard. And then my 5, I got to go with Shaquille O’Neal – the most dominant center. You got all dunkers out there dawg. It’s too much dominance, I don’t see nobody beating our team,” Dwight revealed.
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Wilkins is one of the most athletic players in NBA history. Despite being a menace on both sides of the floor, ‘Nique’ is not a popular pick for such all-time lineups. Howard displayed a lot of faith in himself. To be fair, during his peak, Howard was one of the most lethal defenders we’ve ever seen. However, it is slightly difficult to agree that Howard is a better pick than the likes of Tim Duncan or Dirk Nowitzki.
Dwight Howard selected an all-time starting lineup with only centers
During the same podcast appearance, Dwight Howard picked one of the most interesting all-time lineups ever. Dismissing the idea of selecting two guards, two forwards, and a center, the 2020 NBA Champ constructed a lineup with five centers.
As bizarre as it sounds, Howard picked Hakeem Olajuwon and himself as the backcourt pairing. Further, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were the three frontcourt players on his hypothetical lineup.
Dwight Howard on IG said this Starting 5 of just big men will beat any Starting 5!
PG: Hakeem
SG: Dwight
SF: Wilt
PF: Shaq
C: Kareempic.twitter.com/UiHkG3jdhc— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) September 30, 2023
According to Howard, no other big men would be stopping them. On that, Howard likely isn’t too far from the truth. However, that’s not how basketball is played. A well-constructed team with better playmakers, shooters, and faster guys could go on to defeat the five big guys.
The lineup that Howard selected with LeBron James as the point guard and Michael Jordan as the shooting guard, would be favored to defeat Wilt Chamberlain and Co.
