So recently a couple of my friends brought up the idea that PEAK DeMarcus Cousins was better than PEAK Dwight Howard. I pretty much watched all of DeMarcus Cousins prime in Sacramento and he was my favourite player in the NBA for a couple years, but I still cannot fathom how he compares to a player as dominant defensively and offensively like Howard.
As well, Howard led the Magic to a finals appearance in his prime. I do acknowledge that Cousins is the better passer, shooter, and post player, and that if he didn’t have to carry the offensive load as much as he did in Sacramento he could’ve been way more efficient (we got to see a preview of that in NOLA), but are these abilities enough to take him over Howard?
I was a huge Dwight fan in Houston, but unfortunately I never got to see prime Orlando D12. So could you guys please fill in some context?
NOT CAREER-WISE, STRICTLY PEAK
Dwight. Just definitely, definitely Dwight. Orlando Dwight was a leaner, higher-jumping version of the Shaq archetype - power player, solid touch in the post, absurd athleticism and agility for a guy his size. Man won 3 consecutive DPOYs and was probably a top 5 player on the planet in a league with LeBron in his first prime, prime Wade, and late-prime Kobe.