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Dwight Howard has played with a handful of quality big men over the course of his career, including, but not limited to, Pau Gasol and Paul Millsap, however, he’s never played with a big man as dominant as his new Lakers teammate Anthony Davis — mostly because the only big that has been as dominant as Davis this decade is Howard himself.
During Howard’s introductory conference call on Wednesday, Howard expressed his excitement to play alongside Davis, who he thinks he’ll mesh will with both on and off the court.
“Man, I’m just excited to be on this team. They have a lot of weapons, and playing with a guy like Anthony Davis, I think we’ll really play well off each other. He’s amazing. I’ve watched him grow over the years, and I’m just excited to be able to learn from him but also show him some things that I’ve learned over my 15 years of being in the NBA,” Howard said.
At this point, it’s unclear how much Davis and Howard will actually share the floor together because — barring a stellar preseason from Howard — JaVale McGee will likely start at center for the Lakers on opening night and when McGee subs out, it probably won’t be for Howard.
Still, it’s not crazy to assume that Howard, one of the league’s most decorated centers, can teach Davis, 26, a thing or two, particularly when it comes to postseason success. Howard has played 95 playoff games and even made the NBA Finals in 2009. Davis, on the other hand, has only played in 13 playoff games, eight of which were first-round playoff games.
Davis and Howard might not play a ton of minutes together, but there’s reason to be optimistic about their partnership.
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