The Los Angeles Lakers meeting with the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 Western Conference Finals was a rematch of the 2020 Conference Finals when the L.A. in five games. One of the biggest reasons for that was the physicality in which they played Nuggets star big man Nikola Jokic and the primary player that brought that was Dwight Howard.
The former Lakers big man used his brute strength to bother Jokic all series long and it was a reminder of just how dominant Howard was in his prime. In today’s NBA, Jokic has staked his claim as the unquestioned premier big man and arguably the best player in the NBA period. But Howard still believes that in his prime he would dominate the Nuggets star.
In the latest episode of Run it Back on FanDuel TV, Howard was asked whether he would take himself in his prime or Jokic in his prime and the big man didn’t hesitate:
Prime Nikola Jokic… or prime Dwight Howard?@DwightHoward is taking himself “ALL DAY, EVERYDAY!” ?#RunItBack with @ShamsCharania @MichelleDBeadle @ChandlerParsons & @bansky pic.twitter.com/xeWCnH8sPx
— FanDuel TV (@FanDuelTV) May 29, 2023
Howard taking himself should come as no surprise. Any player in his position would always believe in themselves over anyone else and while it is somewhat forgotten now, Howard in his prime was an absolute force to be reckoned with.
He obviously is nowhere near as skilled offensively as Jokic, who is one of the most complete players the league has ever seen on that end. But Howard is one off the greatest defensive bigs in NBA history himself. He won three consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards from 2009 to 2011 and led the league in total rebounds six out of seven years from 2006 to 2012.
Jokic doesn’t have the physical attributes of Howard, but is just so skilled and intelligent that he has been able to dominate the NBA over the last few years now. He is averaging a triple-double throughout this postseason and no one has been able to figure out how to slow him down consistently.
It’s impossible to guess who would win between these two players in their prime, but it would definitely be a matchup worth watching.
Lakers’ LeBron James tips cap to Nuggets star Nikola Jokic
Howard’s former team just dealt with Jokic and came up short as the Lakers were swept by the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. And afterward, LeBron James could do nothing but simply tip his cap to Denver’s star big man.
“When you have a guy like Jokic, who as big as he is but also as cerebral as he is, you can’t really make many mistakes versus a guy like that. And even when you guard him for one of the best possessions that you think you can guard him, he puts the ball behind his head Larry Bird style and shoots it 50 feet in the air and it goes in, like he did four or five times this series [laughter].
“So you do like this to him [tipping cap].”
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