Dwight Howard wants to play 20 seasons, believes he deserves to make Hall of Fame

The Hawks center is in his 13th season and says he wants to stay in Atlanta

Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard wants to play seven more seasons in the NBA and thinks he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, he told The Undefeated’s Marc Spears in a wide-ranging Q&A:

How much longer do you want to play?

I want to get to 20 years. Now I’m at 13.

Could you see yourself playing all those years in Atlanta?

I would love to. I just got a nice place out in the country. I don’t want to leave it for eight months out of the year and just see it for three. I would love to.

Do you feel like you’ve built a resume worthy of induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame?

No doubt. It’s kind of got swept under the rug because the perception of all the things that happened in Orlando. All of the media stuff. If you look at basketball itself, and I don’t ever talk myself, but winning three defensive player of the year trophies has never been done. Leading the league in rebounding six straight years. All that kind of stuff, I think that deserves it.

Twenty years, huh? If this wasn’t already a trend, it is now. Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant retired last year after his 20th season, and several of his peers have indicated they want to match that mark. This month, Dirk Nowitzki and Carmelo Anthony both said they plan to play 20 seasons; before that, Vince Carter and Tony Parker said they were aiming for the same thing. 

As Howard tries to extend his career, the questions will be about health, mobility and his role. He has a history of back and knee injuries, and he has obviously lost a step compared to when he was in his prime, but at 31 he’s still agile enough to defend pick-and-rolls and protect the paint for the Hawks. Nobody knows exactly what he’ll be able to do when he is 35, let alone 38, and he could become a problem if he’s still insisting he wants to get post touches in a few years. 

To Howard’s credit, though, the Hawks haven’t been force-feeding him on the block this season, and he hasn’t complained publicly. That’s a good sign when it comes to his ability to transform as a role player late in his career. 

As for the Hall of Fame thing, I really don’t think this should be a debate. When Howard won Defensive Player of the Year three times in a row, he was one of the most dominant defenders in NBA history and one of the top few players in the league at the time. He probably should have won the Most Valuable Player award over Derrick Rose in 2011. Basketball-Reference gives him a 99.1 percent chance of making the Hall of Fame, and that seems about right. He might not be the most popular player, but he’d be deserving of that recognition even if he retired today.