The Semi-Complete List Of Shaq Getting Dunked On

Shaqtus Made A Living Doing This

By: The Pest

Lets be honest about Shaquille O'Neal for a moment. He is easily one of the most dominant, powerful and ridiculous forces the NBA, or any sport, has ever seen. I personally think Dream is the superior center, but Shaq is not a poor choice if you're talking about his pure and absolute peak.

Speaking to hard core Shaq fans though will oft yield this argument for Shaq as a defender.

Have you ever seen shaq get dunked on or someone take him one on one and punish him like he did to everyone else? Shaq has never been dunked on.

Maybe not often, but I've heard it enough times from enough people to write an article about it. I think it's crazy. It's the NBA. Everyone dunks. Everyone gets dunked on. Even Shaq. So sure to generate mass unpopularity, here is the complete list of you tube dunks over Diesel. Admittedly, Shaq didn't get dunked on much, and since he played nearly his entire career before You Tube, even fewer exist in that medium.

Now, for this no one dunks on Shaq claim. I don't know where his fans get this. Here's a short collection, and these are only the ones that make it to you tube. PS: If anyone has more clips please send them along and we will gladly include them with credit.

Bynum dunks on Shaq's pride: 

Funderburke/Robinson:

 

Derrick Coleman Just Posterizes Him:

 

Rueben Patterson Does The Same: 

 

Elton Brand:

 

Zo:

 

Arvydas Sabonis:

 

Howard dunks on Shaq's floppy pride ("Like an elephant gun took him down"):

 

 

Jason Terry:

    

Jordan:

 

Webber:

 

 Vlade Divac: Now after that sweet pass you might say "yea, Divac was afraid of Shaq", But no, watch THIS clip, when Divac retaliates after a blatant non-call when Shaq was getting bailed out by officials (edit: My mistake here, Vlade just goes by Shaq on the dunk over Walker. Got them mixed up cuz of the title of the vid and Walker's 52 being similar to Shaq's 32 from the rest of his career. But he was 34 in LA of course. But I'll leave this dunk in just for it's pure sweetness. :) )

 

You know, after watching that Divac dunk, I really don't think Shaq's fans can ever say no one has ever dunked on him again. Vlade, sometimes the poster boy for soft centers, took it right at him and stuffed it down his throat. That dunk is ridiculous! (edit: still ridiculous, but it's downgraded from a facial stuff on Shaq to just a 'weak dunk on Shaq')

In conclusion, I really don't mean to be down on Shaq. He's obviously one of the most dominant players in history. But statements like "Shaq has never been dunekd on" make him sound like he's just beyond reproach. Remember that Shaq has never led the league in blocked shots or rebounding, Hakeem handed him his ass in the finals, and that yes, Shaq has been dunked on.

NBA Fan Evolution: Part 1 - Fan Eras

Here are a few highly evolved fans...I recently engaged in a lengthy discussion with an older NBA fan regarding various players in different eras. He was a big fan of guys like Wilt/Russell/West/Kareem and got quite passionate when I suggested that while great and deserving HOF players they played in a much weaker era that inflated their stats. They could not compete at the same level during the 90's peak.

He passionately argued these stars would have no problems retaining status. In fact, it was not weaker but stronger. Play today is just ‘flashy’ or 'fancy', not quality. While I respect his opinion as a fan supporting his players to do it he had to more or less ignore an exhaustive list of strong points which settled all but his mind.

Its self-evident the league has evolved from it’s past, I won't write about that, but rather what I learned: the basketball fan in general has evolved with the league. In fairness its possible he's right and I am wrong. I doubt it based on full games and clips I've watched. Compared to today’s game it looks like the video game graphic at the top of this blog.

These are the stars of a finals game? Seriously? No wonder Bill had 35 boards: he invented 'jumping on defense'Ignoring video evidence he said that it was only a perception that the guys on old film never jump or display ability dribbling the ball... its because they did not want to?? At some point during the back and fourth I realized the intense differences in being a casual/serious fan of pro basketball and how that has itself evolved. It's not so much that you can't compare eras but fans from different eras are too set in their preconceived notions of quality to agree. There is no other reason to think someone could ignore the following list of points. The 60's/70's were weak. Not to say I can't be wrong because my own era affects my own thinking in the same way. But I'm me, not that guy, so I'm writing it from my perspective.

Click to expand an exhaustive list of factual points, if you care...

• - Most of that era's players actually learned to play with soccer balls
  
  
• - the talent pool they came from was literally 1000's of times smaller
  
  
• - the league was so bad defensively that a player could average 50 points, a triple double or 20 boards for a whole season
  
  
• - Players didn't really know how to box out and rarely did, even on foul shots
  
  
• - In 10 years from 1966 to 1976 the size of the league more then doubled from 9 to 24
  
  
• - teams allowing way more scrubs who had never once played at that level into the league to get beat up on by the pros
  
  
• - At the same time as that expansion the ABA opened it's doors. 3 years later NBA owners voted 14-3 to let them merge cuz they knew they were getting crushed.
  
  
• - In 1976 when the merger happened 75% of the ABA players made the NBA sending many star's victims home
  
  
• - of the 4 teams who merged the Spurs won division titles 5 of their first 6 years. The Nuggest were 1-3 games from the league's best record. The Nets who were the best team in the ABA were forced to sell their best player Dr. J and move the team due to the severe financial/draft limitations. Their other great player, Nate tiny Archibald broke his foot. The team still won 22 games.
  
  
• - when the merger happened many stars stats plummeted... some from top five to out of the top 20 in many cats
  
  
• - Elgin Baylor, a 6' 5" player averaged 35 and freaking 20 and 38/19 in back to back seasons. He was 6'5" and was one of the first players who could actually play, but he was 6'5". That's almost a 40/20
  
  
• - one player had a 55 rebound game as well as many other 40+ 50+ games, as did a few other dominant players. In the past 25 years of basketball and more, there has not been a single game over 35 and only a handful close to it
  
  
• - Jerry West at the 2 guard put up better numbers then Michael Jordan in his prime in the 90's, better then Lebron, better then Kobe in his prime, he was 6'2", could not jump, could shoot the lights out and D'ed up, but could barely dribble with his left hand... he was 6'2"
  
  
• - While not playing basketball players did not spend time doing anything else but having sex with women and jumping. That's how Wilt had a 50" vert and planted his stilt in 20,000 pieces of trash... well u know, according to him.
  
  
• - Players used to actually smoke butts at halftime of games
  
  
• - One of Bill Russel's 'innovations' on the game was learning that jumping helped you block shots: read this quote: "To play good defense... it was told back then that you had to stay flatfooted at all times to react quickly. When I started to jump to make defensive plays and to block shots, I was initially corrected, but I stuck with it, and it paid off."^[7]

Close list...

There are 5 myopia inducing Fan eras with plenty of overlap in the group. Fans form opinions about the game and once set its locked in for life. While the 90's/MJ era stands alone as a seperate era, in terms of fandom, the game was very much the same as in the latter 70's and early 00's. Fan eras tend to be driven by how basketball is thought about rather then those who play it so things like major rule changes are the turning points. There are 4 fan eras of hoop:

Pre Shot Clock Era

Did "Mr. Basketball" actually play basketball? Sort of... Not many of these dudes left. This era occurred when the league was in a formative state. Play varied so much its difficult to imagine any comparisons being made. Games were won with stalling techniques and scores were regularly in the teens and 20's.

Simultaneously equipment was improving. Basketballs before the late late 40’s and early early 50’s were not quite symmetrical and did not bounce consistently. Dribbling therefore didn’t become a crucial part of the game till the 50’s altering how you played. Basketball resembled team hand ball with limited on-ball movement resulting in a very pass oriented game. Maybe an old timer thinks George "Mr. Basketball" Mikan is the greatest but its like trying to argue Charlie Chaplin being more talented then Martin Scorcese.

Post Shot Clock To The 1976 ABA/NBA Merger

Athletic players in the NBA were not really welcomed or accepted. People rarely dunked and much of the league was still quite slow. This era was dominated by the Celtic’s 11 championships in 13 years and fostered rules to limit Wilt Chamberlain’s size induced dominance.

Much Improved: But This Is The Finals With GOAT Candidates??? Really???

While players like Jerry West, Bill Russell and Elgin Baylor dramatically increased elite talent the NBA expanded from 9 to 24 teams negating them. Simultaneously the ABA formed in 1967 and drew many of the best making both ends of the era a wash.

In 1976 75% of the merging ABA players forced out their NBA peers. 10 of the new league’s 24 all stars were ABA players . 3 of the elite teams 1976 NBA teams were the ABA teams despite financial and draft penalties accepted as a concession of the merger. Needless to say talent was spread far and thin prior to 1976.

Fans in this era may tend to feel the well documented statistical achievements of the players indicate supreme strength. Due to their disproportionate size many also consider the era's centers the best to ever to play.

Factoring into their stats however is a much faster pace (25 possessions/game or more) and watery competition sporting boys to take on the men. The size factor meant the few truly dominant bigs feasted on a league of diminutive front court players. Elgin Baylor at 6'5" approached scoring 40 PPG and 20 boards over an enitre season. Twice! Nuff said.

Merger To Bad Boys 2

One of the reasons bigs were able to dominate pre-merger was absence of the 3 point shot. Adopted from the ABA it helped to even the size advantage as the lower percentage outside shot now counted for more then a high % inside one. Good shooters at a distance had to be covered by defenders helping to spread the floor and open lanes inside the painted area.

This new unclogged middle opened up the game spawning new strategies featuring athletic players quick players. A 6’5” player who could jump could get a very high percentage dunk or grab a rebound over a center who had moved out of defensive position. Pro ball as we know it was born when the ABA brought it's style and talent to the NBA.

Offensive juggernauts like the Celtics/Lakers led by Bird and Magic flourished as the running game exploded on the 1980’s NBA. Jordan and Dominque were fixtures of the league's highlights and stats. No guard had ever been able to control games like this. They could nearly beat the other team all by themselves as long as it was close near the end. In Jordan's rookie season he dropped 63 points on a shocked Celtics team. Larry Bird won the game. His face however acknowledged some part of of him had been defeated.

No player has been so great under such pressure in history

In response new sophisticated defensive schemes were developed to fight back. The Pistons bad boys team were notoriously physical taking contact to a whole new level. Result: back to back championships. Could have been 3 but the Lakers were bailed out by Pistons injuries in 1988. They made specific “Jordan Rules” to wear down the game’s best player with success.

Defense intensified into the 90’s. Teams saw it as the only way to stop the freakishly athletic new breed of players from crushing them on a nightly basis. Pat Reilly’s Knicks and Heat teams took advantage of ‘hand checking’ loop holes in the rules to literally beat on anyone scoring in the paint. Players like Jordan reacted using their athleticism to become some of the best defensive players ever but to the determent of scoring which was beginning to dip below 90 PPG. Jordan's own PPG would decline as he entered his prime.

Fans from this era are invariably obsessed with defense and incredible individual play capable of beating those defenses. MJ’s quote “defense wins championships” is used more then Michael Jackson’s attorney. After years of marketing ‘superstars’ the league was at a loss on how to sell team defense to it’s fanbase without an MJ caliber superstar to beat them. Combined with the late 90's parade of reitring superstars and weak drafts, they started to feel desperate

The league attempted to curtail the physicality with little success. A tipping point was reached when the second Pistons defensive powerhouse, with no marketable ‘stars’, bullied their way to a 4-1 finals victory (and near sweep) over the NBA’s flagship Lakers team. LA was fielding 4 future HOF players in their prime to late prime, and all arguably more talented the their counterparts who won ‘the belts’.

2005 Rule Changes To Present

Don't cry Minny KG... your title is coming soon!
Ratings slipped and the front office responded with intense aggression. It wanted the growth it saw in the 80’s but didn't have the talent anymore to build around.

NBC was in a similar scenerio a few years back when it replaced Carson with Leno only to learn that Letterman and the guy who replaced David were both much better at the job. NBC was stuck with Leno and it's solution was to copy Letterman's old material and showcase it being fronted by Jay. The NBA did the same thing and copied their 70's ancestors. Instead of copying the 3 point line, they just told their refs to give stars more calls then ever and fronted it as a minor 'rule revision'.

Stern created the world’s first ref fueled time machine. Hand checking which had been made illegal already was redefined to allow a ref to call fouls on even the most minimal contact or just for plainly arbitrary reasons. A defensive 3 seconds forced centers out of the lane and defensive position to block shots and rebound. Refs were told to call as much contact on the perimeter as possible.

It worked. Big time. Steve Nash experienced an unprecedented non-stereoid fueled resurgence at 30. He won two back to back MVP’s after his owner refused to give him a relatively modest contract extension. 13 teams averaged 99 points a game or more after only 2 teams did the previous year.

The Pistons did luck into the finals again due to Dwyane Wade’s shoulder injury but lost to the Spurs... SA had equally good defense but it their guards won the series for them. Their penetration game was built for the new rules. Tony Parker led the league in points in the paint, something no small guard had ever done. The next year saw two offensive teams in the finals with Wade’s call inflated games defeating the Mavs.

I have a man crush on Lebron, but he does have it easierThe trend has continued. We were all a witness to Lebron’s vastly inferior team climbing on his back as he continually annihilated the Piston’s defense for 29 straight points in game 5 of the East finals in 2006. The Spurs continued to win with good defense and great slashing guards who closed out game: before they won with the twin towers of Duncan/Robinson surrounded by shooters.

What does this say about the fans of this new era? I really can't tell. I cut my teeth on the defensive 80's/90’s making it hard to get a good read. Defense is still important but you can’t win a title without quick slashing players. Effective centers are shrinking in size and weight as mobility to get back into position is trumping power and the banging game.

Players like Marcus Camby, Josh Smith, Amare Stoudamire and Dwight Howard have become the best bigs in the game while 7’6” Yao Ming, who would have been a defensive monster in the 90’s (Manute Bol blocked 5 shots a game in that era!) just does not seem quick enough to get to the spot and protect the rim or board. The league has gone from rebound/defend to slash and kick.

Fans who didn’t experience the 90’s may rate these skills as the most important facets of a good basketball star. That was Jordan's game so he still gets his respect but will a player like Alonzo Mourning, who was absolutely devastating in the paint, get the same props? What about a guy like Patrick Ewing or even Greg Ostertag? Will I be on the receiving end of an NBA fan in 10-20 years who rather justly doesn’t feel many of the players in my era would wilt in his modern game? With Dwight Howard winning the dunk contest and having 9 20/20 games this season, it seems likely.

Forget West, is 'anyone' in the 1963 finals even approaching Jordanesque??? Rotation/role playeresque, not 30/7/6, is more like it

Only time will tell. Many claim you can’t compare eras. On stats alone I agree. You can with the right concessions, but maybe comparison is not the right approach as understanding eras garners more legit results. I still think the overall growth of the game and especially the use of athletic ability to not only overpower/out finesse truly trumps many past era superstars. Jerry West would not put up Jordan numbers today but he did in the 60's.

In the same league Jordan would kill him... its just not even close. There were no Jordans, Battiers, Pauls, Pippens or Stocktons so slow 6'2 guys could put up 32/7/6. The advancement since then is just too much for the old, old school guys to overcome.

Still have to know your roots though. You can't know where you're going if you don't know where you're from. You don't want to be the young punk who just does not understand the game but if you look at things honestly you can also avoid being that guy who can't let go of the past.

This is part of one NBA Fan Evolution. If you enjoyed it be sure to check out part 2. It will examine fan evolution in the context of these eras with regard to the growth of media, technology and general sophistication. Available now, click here!

So just one last video... this is Elgin Baylor's 61 point FINALS performance. Where is the D? Where is the speed? This guy nearly averaged a 40/20 for two seasons and is routinely compared to players like Barkley and Lebron.



Be Sure To Pay Attention To What Bob Cousey, Best Point Of His Era, Has To Say At The End

D12: DPOY: MVP Candidate: Dwight Howard Unnoticed?

Clark Kent Has Left The BuildingI'm not going to pretend that Dwight Howard is not getting attention. He's slated to win DPOY and discussed in the MVP talk but not nearly the way he should be. The Magic won 59 games this year, good for third in the east with a PG who was never taken seriously, going down, and replaced with a playground baller turned pro. The team features other such 'stopper staters' as Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson/Raefer Alston and Mickael Pietrus. Orlando Magic defensive rating: #1.

With the Celtic's latest KG news the Magic have to be considered favorites to reach the eastern finals: Philly/Chicago/beat up Celtics can't be considered a bigger challenge then Detroit/Miami/Atlanta, right? Not when the Magic have handed it to the Greens all season.

The media has anointed him 'most dominant big in the league'. Right? The magic came together as a team and he's getting all the credit he deserves. Right?

Wrong. I follow the league. Dwight Howard is the center piece of my (first place, rock!) fantasy team. I check his box scores nearly every time he plays. In a recent ESPN MVP writer's poll he got paltry results... 1 second-place vote, 2 third, 10 fourth, 1 fifth.

I follow daily yet I was not aware of his progress. The capacity of the leap is astounding. I took a look, and a double take, at the numbers. This year is not a campaign for most dominant player in the league. This year is the start of a campaign for most dominant big in history. This includes you, Big Shaqtus.

Three disclaimers.

1. I'm not comparing Dwight to Shaq Daddy today. This is Shaq in his prime vs Dwight before he enters his.

2. I realize rules have changed recently increasing things like scoring. But its also made it harder for bigs to defend and board. Move over league history. Dwight is here and will be most dominant ever.

3. Only having access to stats from 1986 on I know this leaves players out of the mix. Honestly however basketball before this time was a different game. Sorry if it offends you but Wilt and Russel would not be anywhere near the players they were after 1986 on. That's my opinion I suppose, and I cede that on sheer dominance, Wilt would blow Dwight away on these lists, but I literally don't have the resources to show that era's stats or I would. So this is really just about the more modern era of ball. On with it!

Edit: One more disclaimer. Got into a discussion on a forum about this post and a litany of incredibly angry ball fans appeared to be mortally insulted that I could suggest Shaq was anything but the most dominant player ever and Dwight his little bitch. So people should note (or perhaps you know, just read the following definition that should have taken care of this in the first place) that I don't actually claim Dwight is better then Shaq. Nor do I think he's better, greater or more acomplished then Shaq. He's too young to be compared at that level.

I claim he's more dominant which is a measure of how good you are in relation to your peers and I back it up fairly well. Shaq was great and dominant but played in an era with peer big men who were periodically above him, below him and close to him. So, to the edumacated among us, here's a place you can get help and I have some great Dr. Seuss books... lets continue.

Nature's Version Of Dwight Howard

Dictionary.com says

Dominate:
–verb (used with object)
1. to rule over; govern; control.
2. to tower above; overlook; overshadow: A tall pine dominated the landscape.

Stats too often focus on a single category over a season and miss the forest for the trees. Its how a player combines all cats in a single game that counts. I define center dominance as points, rebounds and blocks. Comparison is not really what the dictionary wants here either. He must dominate the landscape as the mighty pine. So, lets compare Dwight, one player, to the entire league, of 432 of players.

First up, a double double. For bigs it only indicates you are doing your job. Its not dominant. If you block 5 shots in the process however you're starting to own the paint. How many games is Dwight's mark?

10/10/5 Club

Years Pro	Player	Pos	10/10/5 Games
1	NBA	A	32
2	Dwight Howard	C	14
3	Marcus Camby	F	5
4	Andris Biedrins	C	3
5	Tim Duncan	F	3
6	Chris Andersen	F	2
7	Yao Ming	C	2
8	Josh Smith	F	2

Not so great Dwight. The entire league has 18 more 10/10/5 games while you only have 14. Never mind that its 3 times number 2 Camby, nearly 5 times Duncan/Biedrins and 7 times everyone else. It takes the next 5 top players in the league to equal your total Dwight. You can't dominate a girl scout.

Dwight's Response: 10 points nor 10 boards are anything to get excited about. I'm all man now so get those child stats outta my house.

We'll oblige the big fella. Lets add 5 boards to that total.


10 points, 15 boards, 5 blocks

Rk	Player	Pos	Games
1	Dwight Howard	C	10
2	Entire NBA	A	4
3	Andris Biedrins	C	1
4	Marcus Camby	F	1
5	Tim Duncan	F	1
6	Al Horford	C	1

Once the numbers reflect raw pwnage inside, Howard more then doubles the entire NBA's production. Individuals only have 1 such game a piece. Lets keep going, but its not fair to list them anymore. Sorry Timmy... you didn't make the cut. Just to show whats happening with Dwight Howard vs. the world the numbers have to be increased.

15/15/5

Years Pro	Player	15/15/5 Games
1	Dwight Howard	8
2	NBA	2

20/20/5 Games

Years Pro	Player	20/20/5 Games
1	Dwight Howard	2
2	NBA	0

4 times the whole NBA in 15/15/5 games? INSANE! Did you notice? In the 20/20/5 club of "I am center, hear me roar" Dwight Howard is putting up infinity percent more then the rest of the league. Infinity percent, times two, to be precise.

Which leads us to history. For a BIG the 20/20 personifies the separation of good and great. The marker of a truly dominant player. Dwight is on pace to own the record for most 20/20 games in about 1.5 years. Maybe sooner as he is still developing. The top of the 20/20 list looks like this.

Years Pro	Player	Pos	20/20 Games
1	Charles Barkley	F	37
2	Hakeem Olajuwon	C	35
3	Shaquille O'Neal	C	34
4	Kevin Garnett	F	27
5	Dwight Howard	C	23

People Are As Close To Howard As AI Is To Making This shot
Considering potential, time remaining and all that jazz, there are no active players who are realistically close. Al Jefferson has 20/20 skills except in his fifth year he only has four 20/20 games to 23. Big Al is preobably the closest to compete!

By the time Howard is done wreaking his brand of havoc he could easily have 60 of these games. Unheard of in the modern era of basketball.

To put it yet another way: only 9 players have topped Dwight Howards 9 20/20 games this season, wait for it, in their entire cumulative careers. And none before they were 23.

As I write this Howard is not yet finished his fifth year of pro ball. He already has more 20/20's then this bunch in their whole lifetime. Be sure to note the number of years each player took, multiply by 'star power' and consider how in less then 5 years he's overtaken them.

Years Pro	Player	Pos	20/20 Games
16	Charles Barkley	F	37
17	Hakeem Olajuwon	C	35
16	Shaquille O'Neal	C	34
13	Kevin Garnett	F	27
5	Dwight Howard	C	23
22	Kevin Willis	F	22
11	Tim Duncan	F	19
16	Patrick Ewing	C	18
13	David Robinson	C	13
19	Karl Malone	F	12
17	Dikembe Mutombo	C	9
18	Chris Webber	F	9
12	Marcus Camby	F	7
20	Moses Malone	C	7
20	Robert Parish	C	7
7	Yao Ming	C	3
15	Alonzo Mourning	C	2
7	Arvydas Sabonis	C	2

Sabonis gets a pass. Had he played in his youth he would have torn the NBA to pieces. He was so good that the NBA would have been an entirely different era with different players winning championships.

Years Pro	Player	Pos	20/20 Games
78	Mike Dunleavy	G	1

Mike's Typical Day In The Paint
Mike Dunleavy also gets a pass cuz Mike Dunleavy is a FREAKING GUARD! Have you seen him? He's a rail. "BIG WOW" to you Mike Dunleavy!

Can I repeat again that he is only 23 years of age??? 50 or 60 20/20 games is actually Dwight's low mark. At 25 he should be sitting neatly at 40 and first place all time. Should we expect 80? 100? If his body can keep up like TD's (who had a 20/20 this year at 34) 100 20/20 career games might be his ceiling with 60-80 being his likely result.

Forget scoring. For a center points are the easy work. Focusing on boards alone Dwight is 10'th all time in 20 rebound games. Here's the list.

Rk	Player	Pos	Games
1	Dennis Rodman	F	159
2	Dikembe Mutombo	C	52
3	Charles Barkley	F	48
4	Ben Wallace	F	41
5	Hakeem Olajuwon	C	40
6	Kevin Garnett	F	36
7	Shaquille O'Neal	C	35
8	Kevin Willis	F	35
9	Marcus Camby	F	33
10	Dwight Howard	C	31

Yes! 159 More Excuses To Put Up Weird Dennis Rodman picsProps to the Worm. Maybe the most under-rated player of all time and the undisputed best pure rebounder ever. I digress: that's another column. He didn't put up points or blocks like D12.

What should be noted is that at age 23 Dwight is in 10'th place with 9 more 20 board games then Duncan and 10 more then Ewing. If he continues having 10 20 board games a season (like this one) he'll pass everyone except Rodman before he's 25 and again just entering his prime.

That's historically. Measures of domination are not against history but by outperforming peers. Why can we safely assume that baring injury he's going to continue pulling down 20's so frequently? Lets look at the list of active players who have had even 1 20 board game and is under 30. No offense to TD et al, but they're in the twilight of respective brilliant careers. This is the competition.

Rk	Player	Pos	Games
5	Dwight Howard	C	23
25	Chris Kaman	C	5
28	Dirk Nowitzki	F	5
29	Carlos Boozer	F	4
32	Al Jefferson	F	4
36	Amare StoudemireF	4
44	Yao Ming	C	3
46	Emeka Okafor	F	3
49	Andrew Bogut	C	2
50	Chris Bosh	F	2
51	Tyson Chandler	C	2
61	Zach Randolph	F	2
72	Nick Collison	F	1
87	Al Horford	C	1
90	David Lee	F	1
96	Troy Murphy	F	1

There's not a lot of competition there. Only 16 have even one 20 board game and #2 is 25'th all tim with 5 of them. When you consider that most of them are closer to 30 then 25, much less 23, and most of them have already started to break down, the list is actually shrinking and this league is Howard's. A few other views to consider.

The 15/15/5 club, active and under 30, is a small club.

Rank	Player	Pos	Games
1	entire league:	A	17
2	Dwight Howard	C	12
3	Emeka Okafor	F	6
4	Yao Ming	C	5
5	Chris Kaman	C	2
6	Andris Biedrins	C	1
7	Tyson Chandler	C	1
8	Al Horford	C	1
9	Josh Smith	F	1

Lets talk blocks. (3 times fast!) D12 vs. the league. Starting at 3/game: everyone has a game with a block or two. It goes without saying: Howard is in first place for every row until you factor in the league thing. I factored in fluke games for this one. If a guy has a solitary >5 block game in an entire season that's a statistical burp; not a peer of Dwight Howard. I included some percentages on who owns what as well.

x Blocks	Howard	Entire League	Non-Fluke Games	# Of Others	# Of Non-Fluke Others	DH's % Of Total Games	DH's % Of All x BLK Games (Non Fluke)	% Of DH Games With x BLKS	% Of 432 Who Can't	% Of 432 Who Can't Or Fluke
3	42	879	830	167	112	5	5	53	61	74
4	24	312	268	100	56	7	8	30	77	87
5	15	103	72	52	19	13	17	19	88	96
6	8	33	20	21	7	20	29	10	95	98
7	2	11	7	7	3	15	22	3	98	99
8	2	4	0	4	0	33	100	3	99	100
9	1	1	0	1	0	50	n/a	1	100	100
10	1	0	0	0	0	100	n/a	1	100	100

I'm not sure what is more astounding considering any position is totally capable of having a few blocks in a game; that 5%/8% of all 3/4 block games or 30% of all 6 or more block games (non-fluke) in a league of 432 players are his.

x Boards	Howard	Entire League	Non-Fluke Games	# Others	# Non-Fluke Others	DH's % Of All x-Board Games	DH's % Of All x-Board Games(Non-Fluke)	% Of DH Games With x BLKS	% of 432 Who Can't	% of 432 Who Can't Or Fluke
10	63	2041	2005	200	170	3	3	80	54	61
11	59	1440	1379	186	130	4	4	75	57	70
12	55	990	942	147	99	5	6	70	66	77
13	51	679	645	117	83	7	7	65	73	81
14	45	435	401	95	61	9	10	57	78	86
15	34	284	259	75	50	11	12	43	88	83
16	23	169	145	54	30	12	14	29	88	93
17	19	118	100	42	24	14	16	24	90	94
18	17	75	57	36	17	18	23	22	92	96
19	14	45	28	26	9	24	33	18	94	98
20	10	27	16	18	7	27	38	13	96	98
21	6	13	7	9	3	32	46	8	98	99
22	3	9	3	7	1	25	50	4	98	99.7
23	2	5	3	2	1	29	40	3	100	99.7

Again, whats most impressive? He's responsible for almost 40% of the non-fluke 20 board games and 46% of the non-fluke 21+ board games or that half the league is not even capable of having one 10 board game while Howard has 63 of them. That's a 75% chance every night. Maybe its a nearly 60% chance he pulls down 14 boards, every, single, night. There is no player like this today. There are very few players like this in the past. Once Dwight Howard actually reaches his prime there will be no player in history like this.

Last point. Lets consider something other then stats. In the ESPN voting page I linked to one of the writers said "Dwight needs to improve at the offensive end. 20 ppg won't win MVP." Being a good offensive player is not always about putting the ball through the hoop and its not always about being the player to have the ball right before another player scores.

Dwight's presence inside demands a constant double team/team defensive strategy. Opponents collapse on Dwight which gets easy open looks for others. Go inside, the defense collapses, pass back out and swing it to the weak side for a great look. That IS the Magic's offense. Anyone paying attention when watching realizes that Howard is involved in nearly every single scoring play. Free looks and open lanes for everyone aboud and thats because of him... not Hedo and Lewis.

He's been so effective he made perennial laughing stock Jameer Nelson an all-star. The fact he scores 20 PPG only indicates his willing attitude to work within the structure of the offense to create the best opportunity to score points instead of getting his. He's happy playing for 59 wins despite downgrading his point (and losing his bench point) then for 50 and 30 PPG.

Howard is ranked 7'th or 8'th on mock MVP ballots behind players like Billups, Kobe, Pierce and Brandon Roy. I challenge anyone doing so to look at these numbers and honestly tell me he's not top 3. Dwight is unmistakeably on a historical tear starting this season and ending approximately 5-10 years later when micro fractured knees meet kryptonite edged scalpels. If they hold off till then he'll also shatter nearly every important stat for a big man in the modern era of basketball. In many cases, doubling the current all time mark. The Magic have the best defense in the league and not because #12 is really entertaining in the dunk contests. Its time for people to take notice. Superman has landed.