There will always be debates in basketball and there will always be different opinions, such as former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy‘s claim that Dwight Howard should be ahead of Anthony Davis on an all-time ranking.
Van Gundy was talking about Howard, who he coached, on a podcast and he brought up the NBA’s top 75 list.
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“To me, the only guys you could even talk about in his league at that time were LeBron and Kobe,” Van Gundy said on the Knuckleheads Podcast with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles.
“I think Anthony Davis is great, but at the time they selected the NBA’s top 75 list, it’s not close.
“You cannot make a case that Anthony Davis had a better career than Dwight Howard, that’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Dwight Howard vs Anthony Davis: Who is better?
Given that they played in different eras, it is difficult to compare who had a better NBA career.
Interestingly, Howard and Davis were even teammates in the 2019/20 and 2021/22 seasons.
And, the only championship either player has won was as as teammates, when the Los Angeles Lakers overcame the Miami Heat in 2020.
Howard won gold with the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, while Davis did the same at London 2012 with Team USA.
In terms of FIBA World Cups, they are also evenly matched with one title each, in 2007 and 2014 respectively.
Howard was in the NBA between 2004 and 2022, and averaged 15.7 points, 1.3 assists and 11.8 rebounds in 1,242 games.
Meanwhile, Davis, in the league since 2012, is averaging 24 points, 2.4 assists and 10.4 rebounds in 660 games, nearly half as many as Howard.
Davis, aged 30, still has several years left in the NBA, so he could win more championships with the Lakers or another franchise.
Howard is now 37 and in the latter part of his career. He has been playing for the Taoyuan Leopards of Taiwan’s professional basketball league since 2022.
