Dwight Howard Reminds The Wolves (And Basketball Fans) What A Beast He Used To Be

“Fuck it”

That’s what 31-year old Dwight Howard had to say about the young Wolves trying the Hack-A-Shaq against him on Monday night. The 40% free throw shooter knocked down 6-of-10 in the final quarter, securing a victory for the Hornets and giving him 25 points to go with his 20 boards and 4 blocks.

Since 2006, there’s been 61 instances of a player putting up 25 points and 20 boards in a game; Howard has 20 of those instances. And his 25 and 20 against the Wolves was his first since….last year? You were probably expecting to hear it’s been a few years since the 8 x NBA All-Star put up those numbers but on January 18th of 2016, as a member of the Houston Rockets, the 3 x NBA Defensive Player of the Year put up a ridiculous 36 points and 26 boards against the Clippers. More shocking than that, he knocked down 14-of-18 free throws in that game. But that was the only 25 and 20 performance from the 5 x rebounding leader during his H-Town days.

As a member of the disaster that was the 2012 Lakers, the former NBA Dunk Champion had just one 25 and 20 game and the other 18 instances all came during his days at the Magic Kingdom, where he also made 8 All-NBA teams.

Basically, what I’m saying is as much as we want to say (silly ass) Dwight Howard sucks or call him what Kobe Bryant once did, or Kevin Durant once did, or Kevin Garnett once did, or any Kevin once did, or most fans of the Lakers and Rockets once did, Howard, who believes he belongs in the Basketball Hall of Fame, is a Hall of Fame talent, who occasionally still shows it.

And before we get into his best 25 and 20 games, here’s Dwight and Michael Carter-Williams running sprints and taking shots 30 minutes after the victory against the Wolves.

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