Top Five Centers in the NBA

While the center position may not have the total significance it once held, with the game becoming more guard-oriented in recent years, the fact of the matter is that finding a talented center today is about as hard as finding some weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Political pun aside, the truth is concrete.

'True' centers that can dominate not just contribute; have become a rarity of nearly epic proportions.

Just think, when was the last time a truly dominating c=young center entered the league?

Just looking at the overall landscape of young centers that will usher the NBA into the next decade, it's easy to see that there is clearly a shortage of gifted 'fives' playing the game today.

However, there are still some gifted centers playing despite their overwhelming lack of members.

With that in mind, here is a look at the top five centers in the NBA during the 2008-09 NBA regular season.

Dwight Howard - Orlando Magic

While he is not very polished on the offensive end of the floor, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard is the best all-around pivot man in the NBA today. While Howard can't shoot facing the basket from past eight feet effectively, he has displayed a blossoming bevy of low post moves this season that have helped him to average 18.5 points per game on 57this season. Not only that, but Howard is the best rebounder and low post defender in the game today and has the ability to change the course of a game in either area. Again, while he's far from a finished product offensively, Howard is the best center in the NBA today.

Yao Ming - Houston Rockets

Yao is the most offensively accomplished center in the game today with his ability to back down or face up on opposing centers. Of course, being 7-foot-6 helps Yao average just about 10 rebounds per game as well.

Shaquille O'Neal - Phoenix Suns

It's not saying very much about the center position when an aging Shaquille O'Neal remains one of the top centers in the game despite a clear decline in skills and more importantly, desire. Still, largely because of his ample girth, O'Neal generally can have his way against opposing centers as he has shown by averaging nearly 18 points per game this season.

Mehmet Okur - Utah Jazz

I love Okur's ability to face up to the basket even all the way out to three-point distance and make opposing centers pay the price for not stepping out to guard him. I also love Okur's willingness to take - and make - clutch shots with the outcome of ballgames still riding on the line. Okur's 48.5 percent field goal shooting is also impressive when you consider that Okur shoots mostly jump shots.

Nene Hilario - Denver Nuggets

It was a big thrill for me to see Nene getting back to fulfilling the vast amount of talent he's been given after dealing with several injury issues throughout his career including a cancer scare in 2007-08. Nene's nearly 15 points per game and eight rebounds don't tell the real story of what he brings to the table though those numbers certainly are nothing to sneeze at. Nene's ability to either post up or hit the face-up jump shot out to 16 feet can't be understated.