Dwight Howard has spent most of his year getting compared to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. When the center played a year with the Los Angeles Lakers, Howard was expected to be the second coming of Abdul-Jabbar in Los Angeles. That did not work out as planned and now the two do not appear to be on great terms with each other.
Recently Abdul-Jabbar went on ESPN's First Take and questioned Howard's basketball intelligence. While he complimented the newly signed Houston Rocket on his talent, he still believes there are great strides to be made about his understanding of the game.
"Dwight is an extraordinary athlete and has incredible athletic ability, but basketball is a game where the most important muscle that you use on the court is the one between your ears," Abdul-Jabbar said. "Dwight's basketball IQ is not up to speed for him to be a dominant player."
Well Howard did not take to those words very kindly. His message to Abdul-Jabbar was simply that a player does not become a three-time Defensive Player of the Year without being smart in the game of basketball. "And I don't think any coach that has ever coached me has said I have a low IQ for basketball," Howard said, via the Houston Chronicle.
"Have I done some dumb stuff on the floor? Yes, every player has. Have I done some stupid things in life? Yes, it's life. We make mistakes and learn from them. It is what it is. I think I am very intelligent when it comes to the game of basketball."
Howard has not been able to escape the Los Angeles Lakers criticism despite no longer being on the roster. Howard notes that fans and NBA analysts were calling him the greatest center in the league prior to the 2012 season and now people believe he is the worst. Howard believes his resume deserves to speak for itself.
In nine years, Howard has been to seven All-Star games, while averaging 18.3 points and 12.9 rebounds per game. He notes that during his time in Los Angeles, he and Abdul-Jabbar only spoke once despite all of the comparisons Howard was getting. The Rockets star says if the former Laker great has something to say then he can come down to Houston and say it.
"There is no need for me to go back and forth with him," Howard said. "One thing I would say is that he is old enough to where whatever I do shouldn't even matter. He is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. If I'm Kareem, I'm like why? Four championships, five championships, whatever. I've been in Airplane and done movies with Bruce Lee. I am not worried about the young whippersnapper."
