10 May 2007

Dwight Howard Makes the All-NBA Third Team

The NBA announced its All-NBA team selections today, and our very own Dwight Howard was voted to the third team. Way to go, Dwight!


Dwight is the first Magic player to be selected to an All-NBA team since Tracy McGrady was so honored in 2003/2004, earning second-team honors. Here's a list of the Magic's all-time All-NBA team selections, which I found in the Magic's official media guide.

2003/2004 - Tracy McGrady (Second Team)
2002/2003 - Tracy McGrady (First Team)
2001/2002 - Tracy McGrady (First Team)
2000/2001 - Tracy McGrady (Second Team)
1996/1997 - Anfernee Hardaway (Third Team)
1995/1996 - Anfernee Hardaway (First Team)
1995/1996 - Shaquille O'Neal (Third Team)
1994/1995 - Anfernee Hardaway (First Team)
1994/1995 - Shaquille O'Neal (Second Team)
1993/1994 - Shaquille O'Neal (Third Team)

If I were in a dour mood, I'd complain that Dwight didn't at least make the second team. Yao Ming got the nod at center on that squad, and he played in just 48 games this season due to a knee injury. Dwight, on the other hand, played in each of the Magic's 82 games. HOWEVER, I'm just happy that Dwight got some more recognition for his fantastic play this season, and thus I won't write a long, dense, statistic-laden post about why Dwight deserved second-team honors more than Yao did. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

This news is also refreshing in that it takes some of the spotlight away from the coaching carousel. Brian Schmitz speculates in his blog that the Magic are stalling on a decision as to Brian Hill's status because they are attempting to lure two-time NCAA champion coach Billy Donovan away from the University of Florida. Whatever. I've said what I have to say about Brian, and that's that. I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dwight is a beast and a good player. Too bad we never got to see the trio of D. Howard, Mcgrady, and Hill....that could have been dangerous

Ben Q. Rock said...

That combination would have proven deadly, shoutfan. Look at the Rockets right now. They managed to take a more talented Utah team to seven games playing with essentially two players -- I'll overlook the fact that they blew a 2-0 lead. Something tells me T-Mac would take the slim downgrade from Yao to Dwight if it meant having a competent, steady third guy showing up for 65 games a year.