Here’s How Dwight Howard Is Stopping Wemby
The 3-time DPOY shares his strategy for guarding Wemby.
Dwight Howard was one of the most menacing defenders in the NBA.
He was a big, muscular, explosive center who led the league in blocks two seasons in a row, led the NBA in rebounds five times, and won the Defensive Player of the Year award three times consecutively.
He was a beast.
But while on The OGs Podcast, he admitted that he would have trouble against the San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama because of his height, length and skills.
D12 said he’s not actually as tall as his listed height of 6-11 and defending long players who can shoot was difficult for him (ie. Yao Ming).
However, he did give a tactic he’d use to slow down the 2024 Rookie of the Year.
Howard told Mike Miller and Goran Dragic he would channel his inner Charles Oakley and Udonis Haslem and snatch Wemby up every time and instill fear in the kid.
“On [Wemby]? Fouling him on every play,” Howard chuckles. “I’m getting three fouls a game on Wemby. And I’m doing the Udonis Haslem foul: ‘Come here, boy! What did I tell you?! Come here! Next time you pick and roll, step back left, I’m knocking you out. What did I tell you?’”
Okay, so this is clearly a joke. But it is something that has been used in the past by bruisers and was effective.
However, I’m not saying teams should try this strategy against Wemby, mainly because he’s on one of my favourite teams, but it was something fruitful that was used on Michael Jordan… up until the point where he found a solution and just dominated.
Wait a minute?
Anyway, Wemby is a one-of-a-kind player who has size and can score in a multitude of ways from anywhere on the court.
And he’s just getting started. He still has so, so much more room to grow.
So, how would defend him?