Dwight Howard has made it a goal to serve as a constant reminder of his prior greatness.

At a recent interview, he stated that he thought Nikola Jokic’s present-day form was inferior to him at his peak.

Sports Brief examines Howard’s claim and whether his stats and accomplishments hold up against the numbers and awards of the Denver Nuggets star.

NBA Championships

Despite the fact that Howard and Jokic had each won one NBA championship, their methods were significantly different.

In the 2023 playoffs, Jokic solidified his position as the best player in the NBA by averaging 30.0 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per game.

During the Nuggets’ championship run, he stuffed the stat sheet by recording eleven triple-doubles.

The Serbian sensation led the Nuggets to their first-ever NBA championship by averaging 30.2 points, 14 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 1.4 steals per game throughout the Finals.

Howard also won the NBA title before, capturing the championship with the Los Angeles Lakers inside the Orlando bubble in 2020.

He was a bit part player in that championship team, averaging just 2.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 0.7 assists in six games in the Finals.

However, Howard was a force to be reckoned with in his previous Finals appearance in 2009. He averaged 15.4 points, 15.2 rebounds, and 4.0 blocks in five games for the Magic in their championship series against the Lakers, per Statmuse.

MVP awards

Jokic has the advantage in this regard, having taken home the Most Valuable Player honor in each of the years 2021 and 2022. He had a strong case to become the fourth player to win the MVP award three times, but voters decided to honor Joel Embiid this year instead.

Never in his career did Howard receive the MVP award. According to Basketball Reference, he came the closest to winning the prestigious honor during the 2010–11 campaign when he came in second place to Derrick Rose in the voting.

Olympics

Howard has one award that Jokic doesn’t have: an Olympic gold medal. He was part of the United States team that won the title in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

He dominated down low for the Americans in China, averaging 10.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks in eight games.

Jokic was part of the Serbian team that finished second to the USA in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

He recorded six points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals in Serbia’s 96-66 loss to the United States.

Jokic and Serbia failed to medal at the 2019 FIBA World Cup after losing to Argentina in the quarterfinals.

Defensive Player of the Year

No one can question that Howard was a better defender than Jokic.

Howard won three Defensive Player of the Year awards in his career, taking the honour in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Howard was also named to the All-Defensive team five times. He led the NBA in blocks per game for two seasons.

All-NBA selections

Howard has been part of eight All-NBA selections, five of which were with the First Team.

Jokic has been named to the All-NBA team five times in his career, three of which were first-team selections.

Jokic is only 28, though, and he has plenty of time to catch Howard’s total.

Career stats

Howard has racked up 19,485 points, 14,627 rebounds, 1,676 assists, 1,081 steals, and 2,228 blocks in his NBA career.

Jokic has recorded 12,054 points, 6,273 rebounds, 3,959 assists, 714 steals, and 423 blocks thus far in the NBA.

Best players in 2023 playoffs

Sports Brief recently reported on the best players in the 2023 playoffs.

Jokic was ranked No. 1 after leading the Nuggets in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks in their playoff run.

Jamal Murray came in second after he produced stellar performances in the series against the Wolves, Suns, Lakers, and Heat.