Dwight Howard’s red cape and blue suit are gone. He’s not considered basketball’s Superman anymore, a reality owed as much to his persona wearing thin on the public as his still All-Star yet clearly deteriorated play on the court. There have been flashes of the dominant presence that was once considered the second best player in the league – Howard’s playoff performance against the Portland Trail Blazers last spring are the most memorable ones – but they’ve been all too fleeting.
Now 28 years-old, firmly entrenched as a Houston Rockets cornerstone, and by all reports fully healthy, it’s time Howard reestablishes himself as the league preeminent big man. He’ll need a reasonable facsimile of that former superhuman athleticism to do so, though, and this video is the latest indication that Dwight still has it.
280lbs in slow mo lol
Wow. Men that big aren’t supposed to fly so high at all, let alone with so little effort.
Howard has been a relative disappointment the past two seasons. The scary thing for the rest of the NBA, of course, is that he’s still been one of the league’s most effective two-way players. If Howard is 100 percent healthy and recommitted to being a perennial MVP candidate this season, there’s simply no reason why he won’t be.
He can’t control nagging back pain, of course, and part of Howard regaining his supreme offensive influence is sacrificing post touches for setting more high ball-screens. It’s not as easy as Dwight being basketball’s biggest, strongest, most explosive big man, basically. But Howard’s personal renaissance would start there at the very least, and this video is confirmation he’s on the path to reestablishing himself as that singular force.
Will Dwight have a big season in 2014-2015?
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