Welcome to the NBA 75, The Athletic’s countdown of the 75 best players in NBA history, in honor of the league’s diamond anniversary. From Nov. 1 through Feb. 18, we’ll unveil a new player on the list every weekday except for Dec. 27-31, culminating with the man picked by a panel of The Athletic NBA staff members as the greatest of all time.
Dwight Howard never expected to make the NBA’s official 75th Anniversary Team. And in his mind, his absence from the all-time squad had little to do with basketball.
Howard has a theory. His omission from the team released in October — which players, media, coaches and executives voted on and aimed to name the 75 best players since the league’s inception in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America — is more personal than hoops-inspired.
“I can’t go back and do anything right now,” Howard said in a recent conversation with The Athletic. “But at the time, I was kinda bitter to hear that I wasn’t on that list.”
But Howard is on ours. He clocks in at No. 56 on The Athletic’s Top 75.
He calls his exclusion from the league’s list “very disrespectful” and comes armed with reasons why.
“You hear people say, ‘He was only dominant for a couple of years.’ I didn’t know eight years of being an All-Star, being dominant for eight years, was a couple of years,” he said.
