The latest installment of ESPN's All-Time #NBArank examines the top 10 centers. Our NBA Insiders weigh in on the rankings and where Dwight Howard will finish when his career is over.
1. Which top-10 center is ranked too low?
J.A. Adande, ESPN.com: Hakeem Olajuwon. I'd move him ahead of Shaquille O'Neal, in part because Shaq never led the league in rebounds or blocked shots while Hakeem did it twice in each category. Plus, Shaq himself always held Hakeem in such high regard, he probably wouldn't mind looking up at him one more time.
Bradford Doolittle, ESPN Insider: George Mikan was a towering figure literally and figuratively, on and off the court. At the very least, he should be ahead of Patrick Ewing. I get that his career was short, but in the context of his era, that pales in comparison to his impact on the game. The shot clock? That was a direct byproduct of Mikan's dominance. Besides, if you spearhead five titles, that's enough no matter how long you play.
Kevin Pelton, ESPN Insider: David Robinson. Despite his relatively poor playoff track record, Robinson was so good in the regular season -- he has the second-best season since 1977-78 by my wins above replacement player metric -- that I would put him ahead of Moses Malone and, more controversially, contemporary Hakeem Olajuwon.
David Thorpe, ESPN Insider: The Dream. There is an argument that he has had the best combination of low-post scoring and defense in league history, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And he checked every box: leader, great teammate, champion.
Rob Peterson, ESPN.com: Mikan. I understand he played a majority of his career before the shot-clock era, but he was the reason for the shot-clock era. Sure, he would get killed in one-on-one matchups against today's more athletic big men, but Mikan's contributions to the game should have pushed him a little higher.
2. Which top-10 center is ranked too high?
Adande: Bill Walton. He simply didn't have enough great seasons. He played in 65 games or more only three times. His career point total is one-third that of Bob McAdoo's, to name one player below him on the list. Walton's peak was transcendent, but it has also been given too much weight relative to the totality of his career.
Doolittle: Patrick Ewing. Not only should Mikan move ahead of him, but so should Walton, Willis Reed, Wes Unseld and Dave Cowens. And while Knicks fans grind their teeth, let me ask those familiar with the franchise's history: Are you really going to put Ewing ahead of Reed?
Pelton: Walton. Given how short his prime was due to injuries -- less than two seasons -- Walton shouldn't be ranked ahead of players who were consistently slightly less good over a much longer period of time. I wouldn't have him close to my top 10.
Thorpe: Has to be Bill Russell, which I know sounds like blasphemy. But any man who was almost always the tallest and quickest guy on the court but made just 43 percent of his shots can't be ranked ahead of guys like Shaq and Olajuwon. They were simply better than he was.
Peterson: Walton. At his peak there was no one -- except Kareem -- who was better. He could score, pass and play D, leading the NBA in blocked shots the season he also led the Blazers to a title. But because of injuries, Walton's peak was far, far too brief to rank in the top 10.
3. Which center outside the top 10 should have made the list?
Adande: Robert Parish. It's not just the longevity and consistency throughout the bulk of his 20 NBA seasons. He also won NBA Finals series against Moses Malone, Abdul-Jabbar and Olajuwon. Anyone else on the list got a trio of antlers on the wall like that?
Doolittle: I already mentioned some of the top 10 candidates, but in reality there have been way more great centers than spots we have to put them in. I mean, where's Walt Bellamy? Vlade Divac has a top-20 case as well. It's tough, because I can't say there's anyone in our top 20 that I would drop.
Pelton: Dwight Howard. Howard ranks ahead of both Walton and Ewing in both career regular-season and playoff value, and he has five All-NBA First Team selections to their two combined. That's partially because of the eras in which they played, but those stats still reflect that Howard peaked higher than Ewing and had far more longevity than Walton.
Thorpe: No one, but I will give a shoutout to Cowens. Physically, he shouldn't be close to the top 100 power forwards of all time, much less be top 20 as a center. But toughness, feel and smarts are talents too.
Peterson: I don't think people understand the force that Artis Gilmore was in his career, on both ends of the floor. He was still blocking two shots per game at age 35 and shot .599 in his NBA career, the best ever. And in terms of win shares over a 10-year-period, there are only five centers -- Wilt, Kareem, Russell, Shaq and the Admiral -- who were better than him.
4. Where will Dwight Howard be ranked at the end of his career?
Adande: Outside the top 10. While he has already put together a greater body of work than Walton statistically, he lacks the hardware to complete his case. That's why I wouldn't leapfrog him over the people ahead of him. Howard's MVP-winning window has closed, due both to his injuries and the changing nature of the league. Winning championships is his only hope.
Doolittle: Howard has said he'd like to play into his 40s. As he goes on, he's likely to add several mediocre seasons to the pile, which probably won't help his case for the top 10. If we see several years of Howard in an increasingly diminished state and he never wins a title, he may be remembered more as a relic than the MVP contender he was for a few years.
Pelton: Howard is unlikely to return to his prime form at this point, so unless he has a second act as a role player on championship teams, I don't think he'll move up more than a couple of spots from his current ranking of 17th. The perception of Howard's immaturity works against him too much.
Thorpe: He's unlikely to move much unless he ends up on a team that wins some titles. Otherwise he just won't be able to overcome the negative vibe that surrounds him. And unless he joins a team like San Antonio, Golden State or Cleveland, his chances at a ring (while playing alongside James Harden) are not great.
Peterson: He's tough to pin down. Early in his career, I would have said he would have been a lock. He's an intimidating force as a rim protector, but his lack of development on offense and overall mercurial play will probably keep him out of the top 10.
5. Which other current centers have the best chance to make the all-time top 10?
Adande: None of them. The NBA is too different now. All the centers in the current top 10 (except Patrick Ewing) were the foundations of championship teams. Do we see that label applying to even the promising starts of Andre Drummond and Karl-Anthony Towns? Of all the titles Shaq gave himself, the Last Great Big Man might be the most accurate.
Doolittle: The best candidates are big guys who aren't currently full-time centers, like Anthony Davis and Kristaps Porzingis. Maybe, just as the NBA has dropped the position from the All-Star ballot, there won't be such a thing as a true, full-time, two-way center in the future. Then again, this game is changing all the time. Maybe the Dwight Howards of the future will shoot like Steph Curry.
Pelton: Given the difficulty of cracking the top 10 at center, I think we can safely rule out any player over age 25 getting to that level. That leaves DeMarcus Cousins, Drummond, Porzingis and Towns as possible contenders. But they'd all have to meet something like a best-case scenario for their career.
Thorpe: Drummond and Towns have that kind of ability. With an elite coach and some good young guards, Detroit might become a contender. Towns has elite talent (I call him Tim Duncan with range) but is with a franchise that has never been able to do things right for long. Absent a better showing in the future, his ceiling is lowered. With a different team or better management by the Wolves, he has a chance.
Peterson: The game today is geared toward the guard and it'll be tough -- almost impossible, actually -- for a current center to make the top 10. Maybe Davis, if you categorize him that way, or Towns, who's just a rookie and has his whole career ahead of him. But of the current crop, I can't see it.