Dwight Howard Impresses Kevin Garnett with His Meticulous Research on Defense

Dwight Howard was a feared defender back in the day because of his athletic abilities and high basketball IQ on defensive schemes. To this day, Howard remains the only player in NBA history to win three DPOYs in a row. However, Howard had to put in a lot of work and meticulous research to get such desired results.

And the extent of DH12’s research on defense really impressed Kevin Garnett, another accomplished defender of the league.

On an appearance on ‘KG Certified’, Howard revealed to Garnett that when he first entered the league, his coach, Stan Van Gundy, gave him a notebook to write down all the little details about every player he guarded. The center was then assigned the task of studying his matchups extensively: to ensure that in the future, he’d be able to anticipate their moves before they even made them.

This will help him to lock them down more effectively.

He compared the practice to what boxers would do in preparation for a fight. Howard told KG, “I had a little notebook and I had to write down, after I played you [KG]...What y’all did, and I had to memorize it. So now I did that for everybody in the league.”

“So now, every game I knew what you are doing, I’m on your moves before you do them! That’s how we supposed to train. Like if I’m a defender, this is how I’m looking, I’m watching every part of your body…So that’s why I had to develop that because I knew that’s gonna give me an advantage.”

Howard also laid out a plan for younger generations to be successful. By memorizing every slight body movement of your opponent, you can really gain an edge over them. So defenders should study players as meticulously as boxers do to know their opponents like the back of their hand.

Garnett seemed very impressed by Howard’s masterclass on defense. He proudly nodded his head to everything the 2020 NBA Champion said.

Year by year, Howard steadily improved his defensive prowess, culminating in one of the most dominant defensive stretches the NBA has ever witnessed from 2008 to 2011.

Even after he started to decline in terms of physicality and efficiency, Howard’s IQ set him apart as a defender, which is something else KG discussed on his show.

Howard’s defense on Nikola Jokić in the bubble

In the COVID bubble in 2020, the Lakers had a dominant run to the title, but their toughest matchup was the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. Howard’s impact defensively was vital in slowing down Nikola Jokic, and ensuring the Lakers came away as 4-1 winners.

At 34, Howard wasn’t as athletic as he once was, but he used mind games and his IQ to effectively minimize Jokic’s threat in the post. Over 5 games, he was able to limit Jokic to 109 points and 25 assists. Nobody in the league has managed to contain Jokic since, and KG brought this up during their interaction,

“What I’m seeing the Joker do in this league… the last person I’ve seen have him under control was you. Agile enough to slide, and IQ enough to anticipate, I seen you rip the ball from him when everybody letting him sit up here and just pick apart.”

Howard then explained how he got the better of him and claimed that the key was to let Jokic know that he was always on him. He revealed that he played mind games with the Serbian, saying he’d visit his meal room in the bubble, just to toy with him.

“Everything was a message. Every time he looked up, I was right there. In the bubble all of us had our own meal rooms. I went to his meal room just to pop my head in and say wassup to everybody. Let him know like, I’m here, wherever you wanna go I’m right there.”

Howard last stepped foot on an NBA court during the 2021-22 season, but he’s made it pretty clear he still believes he can contribute to any team that needs a backup center. He has tweeted about it multiple times, and there is some truth to his claims. Even at 38 years of age, the former Laker can provide any team with a solid rim protector, and his career average of 15.7 points per game is nothing to scoff at.