Internet debate on Dwight Howard has always been a bit toxic.
Everyone always wanted Howard to fit their vision. And Howard always proved he was too big to fit into any one box. He always fit into his own category and his own place.
But he wanted to please everyone, and so he always tried to be what others wanted him to be. He constantly wanted to make others happy.
And the truth was there may not have been pleasing those who tried to shape and shift him into what they wanted.
Some lamented that he was not a traditional back-to-the-basket big and demanded that he refine his post game to be more like the centers of the 1990s. The loudest of those was, of course, the doctor of the era in Shaquille O'Neal.
Some criticized Howard for his happy-go-lucky nature. He seemed to be constantly joking and smiling on the court. He was not giving the game the seriousness and gravitas it deserved.
This was the Kobe Bryant era, after all. Everyone wanted to see their players treat winning and competition with the life-or-death seriousness of its best player.
Nobody seemed to like him. And that only became greater when he was left off the NBA's 75th anniversary team. Howard was a brilliant player without a reputation and without love.
Howard was not what anyone wanted in some respects, but he was everything his team needed until his body gave out. Through it all, Howard still put up numbers and led his team to title-contending seasons.
As Howard enters the Basketball Hall of Fame, all those narratives are falling by the wayside. All the petty arguments that had dotted his career and made people question his credentials or legacy began to quiet down.
Howard is now getting his flowers and getting his notoriety. The story with Howard has changed.
Howard is finally getting the appreciation and recognition his career deserves. He is a rightful Hall of Famer and so much more.
Howard's Hall of Fame Resume
Away from the day-to-day frustrations that might exist for any player in the spotlight, there is a bird's-eye view of all Dwight Howard accomplished.
There is the 18.4 points per game and 13.0 rebounds per game from his eight seasons in Orlando, ofen cited as enough alone to get Howard into the Hall of Fame. There are his three Defensive Player of the Year awards and eight All-Star appearances. There are his five all-defensive teams and five rebounding titles.
There is the simple realization that Howard was a defensive force throughout his prime in his career. He was a player even elite drivers like LeBron James and Derrick Rose were forced to respect.
Howard was a titan of his time.
And then there is the way he influenced and continues to influence the game.
There is no shooting revolution in the NBA without Dwight Howard's presence and the way Stan Van Gundy built a shooting juggernaut around him, leading to their 2009 run to the Finals, and proof shooting teams could win big in the NBA.
Rim-running centers were always a thing in the NBA, but finding vertical spacers and rim protectors who could clean up everything became the norm and the ideal. Every team wanted a Dwight Howard.
The history books are being written to correct the record.
Howard was not his failings or perceived flaws. He was a dominant player on the court. One who changed the game and very much changed the Orlando Magic.
Fighting for his legacy
Those naysayers always existed and they took over the narrative when it came to Dwight Howard and his career.
Even as he hit retirement, Howard was looking for his defenders.
The one place that should have loved him, the place where he made his career, had shunned him after a messy breakup that ended his eight years in Orlando.
Orlando Magic fans were still a bit frustrated with his messy exit after eight seasons with the Magic to open his carer. Howard's will-he, won't-he leave season in 2012 only enraged fans even if a move out of Orlando was the right move for him to pursue a championship, exercising his power as a star to remain competitive.
The feelings persisted. And while plenty of bridges have been mended -- enough to admit Howard rightfully into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame this past season -- there are still some hard feelings and relationships to repair. But fans have come around to embrace Howard again (for the most part).
Howard had always been a people pleaser, but it seemed like no one was pleased with him as his career wound down. How would he be remembered? Would he even have a legacy?
That primary city is meant to be the chief defender of that legacy. Howard's legacy belongs to the Magic. They are the ones who ultimately will carry the banner for Howard in those Internet debates.
The Magic's return to contention and Howard's retirement from the league have quieted all the criticism. He even buried the hatchet with one of his fiercest critics in Shaquille O'Neal.
All that is left is what he accomplished on the floor. There is no more hope for the ever unattainable more and just the appreciation for all he did and accomplished.
As everyone has begun to reevaluate Howard's career, that spark is still ever-present. Those who saw him play throughout the 2000s and 2010s saw a dominant defensive player who shifted the geometry on the court in the same way shooters today seem to warp the court.
They see a player who was a wall on defense and a far better offensive player than his contemporaries and critics gave him credit for. He was a player who played to his skills.
After so much of his career spent trying to please others and make his mark, it took retirement and his place in the Hall of Fame to get that ultimate approval at long last.
It was a celebration of what Dwight Howard was and not what he should have been. And what he was one of the best players of his era and a clear Hall of Famer.