Dwight Howard Denies Tension With Shaquille O’Neal and Hating on Nikola Jokic, Apologizes to Luka Doncic For Ignoring Impact

The NBA Regular Season MVP award continues to be equated with the Playoffs success. After Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets suffered a second-round series loss against the Timberwolves, Dwight Howard quickly retracted from his earlier MVP stance and declared Luka Doncic as the deserving one. When a fan pointed out that D-12 has backed off from his original position of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander winning the MVP, the 4-time DPOY clapped back with a reply.

The commenter wondered if Dwight Howard is following Shaquille O’Neal’s lead, who is often accused of downplaying modern elite Centers.

The fan also highlighted the former Center’s relationship with Shaq. Howard courteously responded to the comment and expressed that he has “no tension” with Diesel and respects modern Centers. The 2020 champion also crowned Jokic among the top-five Centers of all time.

He confessed to overlooking Doncic’s historical season but re-iterated that SGA is his MVP pick, even though he would have welcomed the notion of the Slovenian winning the title, 

“I have no tension with Shaq and second I don’t hate on other centers ! My favorite player now is Wemby, I said Jokic is Top 5 all time centers now, Embid is a monster, and Boogie cold but I felt like Shai deserved MVP this year ! …If they gave it to Luka it might not have been a snub to anyone… the man basically averaged a Tripple Dub.“

Howard’s response triggered another chain of comments that reflected divided opinions. While some weren’t convinced by his arguments, others felt that his take resonates with humility. 

Fans ambush Dwight Howard over the contentious MVP debate

The fan, who called out Howard for “hating” on current Centers, wasn’t convinced by his response, “Nah you would think u and @SHAQ  would support the 5…” He also stated  that Howard and Shaq prefer guards over centers,

“Steph curry came in and kind pushed it out the way.  I see you and him support more Guards and points then your Own Kind. Its alllll in the public eye. Yall don’t really support No Bigs when y’all do its back hand compliments!”

Another fan didn’t agree with Howard’s take on Nikola Jokic being a top-five Center of all time. He pointed out the Joker’s supposed deficiencies on defense compared to other legendary centers putting his top-five claim in jeopardy.

Apart from that, a fan didn’t approve of the timing of the award which falls around at the start of a second-round series in the playoffs. The fan wrote, “The NBA votes have a thing about wanting to see a team win the playoffs before the give someone MVP… But they apply their logic haphazardly.”

Additionally, a Mavericks fan assented to Howard’s confession about Doncic, “Thank you for actually admitting what most people won’t. That is all us Luka/Mavs fans ever wanted but we knew with the same takes everyone kept saying that they hadn’t been watching him this season. All 3 had great season but for some reason they always tries to discredit luka.”

Thus, Howard’s take on the NBA MVP award continues to open a can of worms. Even legendary athletes succumb to the postseason scenario achievements ignoring that the award is given for the regular season performances. At the same time, while the Joker did have a strong case for his third MVP honor, many fans would have loved to see a new face like Luka or SGA.