Dwight Howard is one of the best centers in NBA history.

Toward the end of his career, he spent time with the Philadelphia 76ers as the backup to Joel Embiid.

Recently, Howard made an intriguing comment about Embiid (and the 76ers).

Howard (via SiriusXM NBA Radio): “When I was there, there was a lot of times when I got reprimanded for being too physical in practice, too physical with Joel.”

Several people reacted to the post.

The Sporting Page: “The 76ers have coddled and babied Embiid”

Jimmy Crackcorn: “Literally, LITERALLY, no surprise here.

That franchise coddled that dude.”

Nate Jones: “Every player that played in both the era of harder practices and this new rest focused era says the same thing. Coaches have been neutered by the quants in the league that think too many and too hard of practices set players up for injury”

Howard finished that season (2020-21) with averages of 7.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per contest while shooting 58.7% from the field in 69 games.

As for Embiid, he is one of the best players in the NBA (when healthy).

He was recently ruled out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.

Via StatMuse: “Joel Embiid this season:

149 free throws
140 field goals

Out for the year.”

Embiid finished the year with averages of 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per contest while shooting 44.4% from the field and 29.9% from the three-point range in 19 games.

The 76ers are currently the 12th seed with a 21-41 record.