Dwight Howard is climbing two ladders.
The Hawks center is moving up the NBA/ABA all-time lists for both career points and rebounds.
Howard needs 64 rebounds to reach 12,000 for his career. He would become the 15th player in history to have 16,000 points and 12,000 rebounds. He would join elite company in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Wilt Chamberlain, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Robert Parish and Buck Williams, as well as former Hawks players Bob Pettit, Walt Bellamy and Moses Malone.
Howard currently has 11,936 career rebounds. He has pulled down 787 boards in his first season with the Hawks. In doing so, he moved up to 24th on the all-time list as he surpassed No. 28 Dolph Schayes (11,256), No. 27 Elgin Baylor (11, 463), No. 26 Patrick Ewing (11,607) and No. 25 Kevin Willis (11,901). Howard trails No. 23 Dennis Rodman (11,954) by 18 rebounds.
Howard, who ranks fourth in the league in rebounds this season, has at least 10 rebounds in nine consecutive games, one short of tying his longest streak of the year. He needs 13 more rebounds to reach 800 for the season. The last Hawk to record 800 rebounds was Dikembe Mutombo in 1999-00, with 1,157.
Howard broke the 16,000-point total in December. He now has 16,453 career points and 803 points this season. He currently ranks 101st on the all-time scoring list. He has moved up from No. 121 this season, recently passing such players as Jerry Stackhouse, Joe Dumars and James Worthy.
“The impact he’s had on the game from very early, coming straight from high school to the pros and being such a phyisical force and being able to dominate the game on the boards, inside scoring, it’s pretty impressive,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “He’s had a heck of a career, and he has a lot more left.”
