With the Philadelphia 76ers acquiring Dwight Howard in free agency, the hope is that he can provide some good backup play behind Joel Embiid. The Sixers have had an issue finding a quality big man behind Embiid and Howard could be the one to fix things.
Howard averaged 7.5 points and 7.3 rebounds with 1.1 blocks with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2019-20 season coming off the bench in 67 of the 69 games he played in on his way to winning a title. However, before that, he was a monster in his younger days.
During his 8-year career with the Orlando Magic, Howard averaged 18.4 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks while being named an All-Star in six of the seasons. He also was named Defensive Player of the Year three times and he led the league in blocks twice. All in all, he been an All-Star eight times and he has fashioned a Hall of Fame career.
He is the perfect big man for Embiid to learn from.
“He’s a future Hall of Famer,” Embiid said. “So just the future of Famer and kind of like in a weird way, another big that’s done it, that’s been in that situation. I’m talking about in general whether it is as a coach, or as a player that I never had any Hall of Famer big man around me as a coach or as a player so I think he’s going to be great.”
Howard had already said recently that he is excited to mentor Embiid and help him take the next step and the current star big man is ready for any advice he has. Especially considering that Howard has seen a lot in this league from failures to success.
“Our games are different, you know, at the top of his game, the things he was able to do was not the same thing that I’m able to do to dominate the game,” Embiid continued. “I can still pick his brain on the mental process going into games and just talking throughout the process if I’m struggling a lot. I know he’s dealt with it a bit going from Orlando and the Lakers and Houston and then back to the Lakers and he’s been all over the place so he’s dealt with a lot. If I’m in those situations and trying to talk through it and trying to figure it out the best way I can go and learn.”
Embiid should definitely take advantage of any anecdotes Howard has to offer throughout the season. He has seen it all in this league. [lawrence-related id=39847,39844,39841]