NBA / Jan 17, 2012 / 11:00 am

Who’s Better: Dwight Howard Or Andrew Bynum?

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Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard (photo. adidas)

If you just went off of what they did last night, the casual basketball fan might go for Andrew Bynum. Bynum was the only one who played well (17 points, 15 rebounds) in that Lakers/Mavs mud bath, and while the Magic also won in New York, it had more to do with the Knicks disrespecting Ryan Anderson than Dwight Howard (eight points, 10 boards).

In fact, take out Dwight Howard’s ridiculous night in the Bay late last week, and as crazy as it sounds, they’re playing almost to a standstill at times this season. Bynum has improved that much. Now, he has to keep it going.

We’ve had a lot of basketball fans come at us in the past week or so about this argument, which is made even more intriguing because these two could very well be traded for each other at some point. Whereas some will incredulously tell you there’s no comparison, other fans don’t believe it’s so cut and dry.

Our friends from LakersNation.com posted the recap from last night on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” where Shaquille O’Neal stuck to his script. He believes Bynum is the better player.

So who would you rather have as your pivot man for the next decade? We argue. You decide.

***

DWIGHT HOWARD
Laker fans have to be the funniest fans for any one team in the NBA. Now that Andrew Bynum is finally back up and running and Kobe has strung together a few good games, they have gotten back on their high horses. Bynum’s career to this point has been one filled with expectations and burdened by disappointments. However, Laker fans are more than excited to see the big fella healthy and playing well again. So far this season he’s been making up for the absence of Lamar Odom on the glass, having his best rebounding season since he’s been a pro. He’s showing signs that he’s ready to be an All-Star and has accepted a significant role on the Lakers. However my biggest pet peeve with Laker fans is that they always amplify things to the max.

They’ll always find a way to turn the bad into good. After going through what was the most disappointing offseason for any NBA team, the Lakers went into this season without much to be happy about. With their failed attempt at Chris Paul, and Dwight Howard being taken off the market, Laker fans were livid prior to the start of the season. Before he had been taken off the market, Jim Buss told Orlando that everyone not named Kobe was available. Orlando wisely refused to be swindled, and held onto Dwight.

Now that Bynum has come out of the gates on a mission, and is having his best season to date (which still isn’t saying much), he’s suddenly better than Dwight Howard? Oh please!

This particular Who’s Better argument is dedicated to all of Laker nation because they are the only ones ridiculous enough to actually believe that Bynum has suddenly surpassed Howard as the best center in the league. It’s almost like they make themselves believe this nonsense to ease the pain of not getting Howard a little bit.

To give Bynum the credit he deserves, he is superior to Howard in one aspect: post moves. Howard has yet to develop a go-to move in the post. Everyone knows that. But his athletic ability makes up for it. Bynum is inferior to Howard in every aspect aside from that.

We reached out to Eddy Rivera, the Editor-in-Chief of Magic Basketball, a blog in ESPN’s TrueHoop network. While he says it’s hard to compare the two players given their differing roles, he believes Howard is a once-in-a-generation talent:

“Bynum is just a great talent,” Rivera wrote in an email. “Dwight is the slightly more efficient player on offense, even though Bynum is more polished in some ways and generally the better free-throw shooter. Where they’re worlds apart is defense. Dwight honestly has no peer in that sense, and I think that’s where the comparison ends. Bynum, just by his size, doesn’t have the athleticism and mobility to impact a game defensively like Dwight. That’s where Dwight shines.”

Dwight Howard is without a doubt the most dominant center the NBA has seen since Shaq. He’s averaged a double-double in all seven of his full seasons (and doing it again this year). On top of that, he’s started just about every game in every season while Bynum has never started more than 65 games and has averaged a double-double just once (a 35-game 2007-08 season). And for those of you that think this season has been any reason to call Bynum a better center, Dwight refreshed your memory with his 45-point, 23-rebound performance against the Warriors.

Arguing who’s better between the two is really not a fair argument. Bynum has the potential to be a great center in the league but he’s so injury prone that it’s hard to believe in him. To his defense, his stats are not a great reflection of what he can really do. He’s not far behind, but his lack of athleticism will always keep him inferior to Dwight. He will never have the same presence as Dwight on the defensive end of the floor, which is ultimately what makes a great center in today’s game.

Laker fans don’t really believe Bynum is a better center than Howard, but they simply use that as a way to convince themselves that everything is okay. If any Laker fan says they would honestly rather have Andrew Bynum than Dwight Howard don’t believe them because they are blatantly lying to your face.
-JAIMIE CANTERBURY

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  • beiber newz

    except that article wouldn’t make the press. so that makes no sense no offense. if there were to be an article within your reasoning, it’d be “who’s better, kobe or jordan” cuz some out there already believe THAT is a joke question. the fact that there can be a debate about it means there can be a case at least made for either player. no case can be made for nick young head to head against kobe. there can be a case made for bynum over dwight and vise-versa, even though it is okay for one’s opinion is to call it a joke question. also the free throw tidbit is fair to use in this center discussion because both players are tops in their position, and both are formidable, and franchise caliber. so when putting those two in the same boat, or in this case, same debate, it is fair to look closely at everything including ft%’s. think of it this way, if you had to choose between beyonce or rihanna, you may pick beyonce because she has more money. both are sexy and you can critique to the max. but you can’t use the argument, “but oprah has more money than both” because oprah is not even in the level to be looked at like that so her having more money doesn’t push her over the top, because she so far down the totem pole. yes there can be other centers who shoot a better % than both center, i.e bargnani, but that fact still won’t sway you to take andrea over dwight because dwight is so far and ahead of barg to begin with.

    with all that said, it is more fun to see the back and forths of who you guys think is the best center, than to give my opinion on it.

  • K Dizzle

    Just so it’s clear, AB gets it. I’m the glad the kid is growin up:

    Got this from HOOPDOCTORS:

    “Because he’s off to the best start of his young career, some people are now saying that Andrew Bynum is the best center in the league. That’s probably not true and Bynum showed some humility when speaking about Howard:

    With the two slated to play in Orlando this Friday, the natural inclination will be to compare the big men. But don’t ask Bynum to add his two cents.

    “I don’t make any comparisons,” insisted Bynum at the Lakers practice facility in El Segundo on Tuesday. “The guy is definitely more proven … so for myself, I always look up to him and want to be able to get the ball and do the things he does with it. I think I learn a lot from watching him play, the way he rim-runs, and gets low and things like that. It’s a fun game.”

  • http://www.nbafullcourtpressure.com/ Matt

    Bynum has great potential to be a great player. But, he is nowhere near the player Howard is.

  • mo.B.bad

    ctk (#5), north (#20) and Austin (everywhere) have covered the topic well.

    Dwight is the Magic’s LEAD player. the defence focuses on him and put their energy into stopping him.

    Bynum is the Laker’s third biggest player. defences focus on Kobe, then Pau, then him.

    there’s no chance he’s as good as Dwight. he’s bigger, that’s about it. people said Dwight couldn’t pass out of the post so he’s learned to pass out of the post and is getting more assists than ever. he’s dropped the inefficient bank shot and has perfected the running hook across the lane (left or right) as a trademark post move instead. he’s getting better and better on offense and remains the finest defensive presence in the league.

    but my man control (#39) really nailed it:

    “Dwight has been in the league for years, and he’s been DOING SHIT for years. People don’t talk about fucking potential with Dwight, they talk about a guy who completely changes a team’s defense to the point where you can surround them with guys like Redick, Hedo, and Ryan Anderson, and still have a top 3 defense in the league. That’s THREE fucking white guys in the starting lineup, and Dwight is still holding it down. Dwight has the biggest defensive impact in the league, without any doubt at all. If the refs weren’t such big fucking pussies, Dwight’s impact would be even bigger.”

    preach on!

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