Swarm and Sting
Fansided

Charlotte Hornets: Dwight Howard snubbed from ESPN’s top-100

By Jerry Stephens

CHARLOTTE, NC- JUNE 26: Rich Cho and Steve Clifford introduce Dwight Howard #12 of the Charlotte Hornets to the media during a press conference at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on June 26, 2017. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC- JUNE 26: Rich Cho and Steve Clifford introduce Dwight Howard #12 of the Charlotte Hornets to the media during a press conference at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on June 26, 2017. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Charlotte Hornets’ new big man was left off of ESPN’s list of the top-100 NBA players heading into the 2017-18 season.

ESPN has released their top-100 NBA players for next season. Four Charlotte Hornets‘ players were listed but one big name was left off of the ranking. After being ranked 47th on last year’s list, Dwight Howard was absent this time around. ESPN decided to exclude the eight-time all-star.

Despite averaging a double-double last season (13.5 PPG and 12.7 RPG) while shooting over 60% from the field, ESPN deemed that Howard wasn’t good enough to make the cut. Even though Howard is no longer in his prime, he is still a top-100 player in the league based on production.

He has averaged a double-double in each of his 13 NBA seasons and there is little reason to think that he won’t do so again with Charlotte. The 31-year old is entering the later stages of his career and he is now more of a role player than a superstar but the future first-ballot Hall of Famer has put up better stats than players ahead of him in the rankings.

More from Swarm and Sting

Just for reference, Ryan Anderson came in at No. 100. Listed ahead of Dwight are rookies who haven’t played a single NBA game, Manu Ginobili (99) who averaged only 7.5 points per game last season and Nerlens Noel (91) who only put up 8.7 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 2016-17.

Only five players, including Howard, averaged 13+ points per game and 12+ rebounds per game last season and they all made the list. Andre Drummond (53), (Hassan Whiteside (41), Rudy Gobert (14) and Karl-Anthony Towns (12) were the other four players.

Looking at Sports Illustrated’s list, Dwight was able to crack the top-100. Not only that but SI ranked him as the 73rd best players in the league.

ESPN made plenty of questionable decisions when rolling out this list. A majority of the controversial rankings were probably made just to draw more attention and even though it’s a bit upsetting to see Dwight’s name absent, it doesn’t really matter all that much.

Next: Unofficial 2018 NBA Draft big board

Fellow Hornets Cody Zeller (89), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (71), Nicolas Batum (66) and Kemba Walker (34) were all ranked in the top-100. Maybe Superman can have a bounce-back season in Charlotte and make the list next year.

Home/Hornets News