Between segments on ESPN's "Around the Horn," Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan harshly criticized Hawks center Dwight Howard after the Washington Post named Howard the NBA's 27th-best player since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976.

“There is no bigger towering piece of excrement than Dwight Howard, I’ll tell you that,” Ryan said, while looking over the Post’s list. “The greatest waste of a body in the history of the NBA.”

Howard is sandwiched between Allen Iverson and John Stockton overall, and is ranked seventh among centers, behind Tim Duncan (No. 3), Hakeem Olajuwon (No. 6), Shaquille O’Neal (No. 7), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (No. 11), Moses Malone (No. 15) and David Robinson (No. 16).

Hawks great and Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins is ranked No. 34 on the list, just ahead of Ray Allen. He’s the seventh-ranked small forward, behind LeBron James (No. 2), Larry Bird (No. 5), Kevin Durant (No. 14), Scottie Pippen (No. 17), Julius Erving (No. 20) and George Gervin (No. 21).

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