Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard
Player information
Full name	Dwight David Howard II
Nickname	Superman, D12, The Daily Double
birthday	8th December 1985 (age 34)
place of birth	Atlanta , Georgia , United States
size	211 cm
Weight	120 kg
position	center
High school	Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy
NBA draft	2004 , 1st pick , Orlando Magic
Club information
society	Los Angeles Lakers
league	NBA
Jersey number	39
Clubs as active
2004–2012 Orlando Magic 2012–2013 Los Angeles Lakers 2013–2016 Houston Rockets 2016–2017 Atlanta Hawks 2017–2018 Charlotte Hornets 2018–2019 Washington Wizards Since 2019 Los Angeles Lakers 0
National team
2006-2008	United States	37 games

Dwight David Howard II (born December 8, 1985 in Atlanta , Georgia ) is an American basketball player who has played in the US professional league NBA since 2004 . He is currently under contract with the Los Angeles Lakers . He moved straight from high school (Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy) to the NBA and was voted first in the 2004 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic .

Howard is 2.11 meters tall and plays on the position of the center . His physique and his style of play suggested comparisons to Darryl Dawkins and Shaquille O'Neal . In his career, Howard has been 8 times NBA All-Star and 3 times Defensive Player of the Year .

Childhood and youth

Howard was born the third of four children to Dwight Howard Sr. and Sheryl Howard into a family with strong athletic abilities. He was nicknamed "The Miracle Child" after he was born because his mother had previously suffered seven miscarriages . His father was a full-time police officer , but also worked as a physical education teacher at the Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, the later school of Dwight Howard. Sheryl Howard was the captain of the Morris Brown College female basketball team. He was encouraged and trained to play basketball at a young age by his parents. In eighth grade, Howard had set himself the goal of winning the national championship once and becoming the first choice in an NBA draft .

In high school Howard was due to his height - 2.08 meters in the ninth grade - exceptional speed and agility average of 16.6 points, 13.4 rebounds and 6.3 blocks in 129 games achieved mostly on the position of Power Forwards , but sometimes also in the position of a guard , which is normally reserved for smaller players.

In his senior year at high school, Howard was able to win the state championship of Georgia as the outstanding talent with his team and thus cause a great stir among talent scouts. He achieved an average of 25 points, 18 rebounds, 8 blocks and 3.5 assists per game and received numerous awards for these achievements, including prestigious awards such as the Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award , the Gatorade Player of the Year Award and the McDonald's national high School Player of the year Award , all in 2004. He was also, along with JR Smith to co- MVP at the McDonald's all-American game 2004 chosen a game between the best national high school basketball players, similar to the NBA All- Star game for NBA players. He was also named “Mr. Basketball "in the state of Georgia.

Unsurprisingly, therefore, was his decision to skip college and go straight to the US professional league NBA, as Howard's favorite player Kevin Garnett had done in 1995, who significantly influenced Howard through his style of play and was modeled on Howard designed his style of play.

NBA

2004 NBA Draft

Following his success in high school, Howard signed up for the 2004 NBA Draft at the age of 18 as the youngest participant and one of the best national junior players . Many critics were of the opinion that the young Howard still lacked the maturity and assertiveness for an NBA entry. However, he had an extraordinary talent that had to be developed. The first choice of the draft was a duel between Howard and the three-year-old Emeka Okafor of the University of Connecticut , who was the favorite for the first pick among many experts . The first choice was made by Orlando Magic , who had given their superstar Tracy McGrady to the Houston Rockets .

Orlando Magic (2004-2012)

Rookie season

The Orlando Magic made the surprise perfect and chose Howard as their future star player. Dwight Howard chose 12 as his jersey number, the reverse of 21, Kevin Garnett's jersey number for the Minnesota Timberwolves . Howard moved to a weakened and unmotivated team that could only record 21 wins last season, had given up its NBA All Star and captain Tracy McGrady and Drew Gooden and Juwan Howard . Howard was aware that he would have to take on the role of McGrady and rebuild the team. Howard, who was the first player in NBA history to come straight out of high school and started all 82 games of his rookie season, lived up to expectations with an average of 12 points and 10 rebounds per game. He set up numerous new records; so he became the youngest player in NBA history to achieve a double-double as the season average and also the youngest player to score at least 20 rebounds in a game. For his accomplishments, he was named the 2005 NBA Got Milk? Rookie Challenge invited and drafted into the NBA All-Rookie First Team . He was voted third for the Rookie of the Year Award . Before him landed Ben Gordon and Emeka Okafor , who won the award.

Rise to superstar

In the 2006/07 NBA season , Howard finally rose to the ranks of the NBA superstars after he led the Orlando Magic back into the play-offs after four years with 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds per game . He also took part for the first time in the NBA All-Star Game , in which he was able to convince with 20 points and 12 rebounds. He was also elected to the All-NBA Third Team after the season . At the 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend , he won the Slam Dunk Contest and received his second nomination for the All-Star Game.

Howard Free Throw (2008)

In the first round of the play-offs of the 2007/08 season against the Toronto Raptors , Howard scored over 20 points and 20 rebounds in three games. This made him the first player since Wilt Chamberlain in 1972, who succeeded in this in the play-offs. He also reached the second round with the Magic and was chosen for the first time in the All-NBA First Team and thus as the best player in his position in the league during the regular season . On March 30, 2009, Howard set a new record when he cracked the 5000 rebound mark. At 23 years and 112 days, he is the youngest player in NBA history to have achieved this. In doing so, he ousted basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain from first place, who had achieved this at the age of 25 years and 128 days. That same season, Howard was named best defender with an average of 13.8 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game (he led the NBA in both categories). He is the youngest player in the history of the league to receive this honor.

In the 2008/09 season , Dwight Howard scored the first triple-double of his career with 30 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks. He was also able to win the Slam Dunk Contest with his legendary “Superman Dunk”. On April 21, 2009, he became the youngest NBA Defensive Player of the Year in NBA history and led his team to the 2009 NBA Finals , which the Orlando Magic reached for the second time in its franchise history . In the first round of the play-offs, the Magic had defeated the Philadelphia 76ers , in the second round the Boston Celtics and in the Eastern Conference Finals the Cleveland Cavaliers . In the NBA Finals, however, Howard's team lost 4-1 to the Los Angeles Lakers .

Howard in the game against the Washington Wizards in February 2011

In the 2009/10 season there were decisive changes in the Orlando Magic roster : Hedo Turkoglu was transferred to the Toronto Raptors and Vince Carter moved from the New Jersey Nets to Florida . The team finished the season with 59 wins in 82 games and Dwight Howard received the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award for the second year in a row. In the first two rounds of the NBA play-offs, the Magic prevailed in four games against the Charlotte Bobcats and the Atlanta Hawks , but had to admit defeat to the Boston Celtics in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals .

In the first game of the play-offs in 2011 against the Atlanta Hawks , Howard scored 46 points, which was a setting of the best in the play-offs for a player of the Magic, and 19 rebounds, but his team lost. After the season he requested a trade. His agent received permission from the Magic to negotiate with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks, and the New Jersey Nets. On March 15, Howard signed an amendment to the contract through which he waived his player option and was thus under contract with Orlando for another year. On April 19, it was announced that Howard would have to undergo spinal surgery, causing him to miss the rest of the season. As in the previous year, Magic was eliminated in the first round of the play-offs.

On January 24, 2012, Howard scored 14 points in the game against the Indiana Pacers , making him 10,657 points for the Orlando Magic in his entire NBA career. He has been the franchise leader on points since that day. After the end of the 2011/12 season , rumors of change about Howard flared up again. Regardless of a possible swap, Howard let it be known through his agent that he would explore his options on the open market after the end of the 2012/13 season and would not sign a new contract beforehand.

Los Angeles Lakers (2012-2013)

On August 10, 2012, Howard's move to the Los Angeles Lakers was announced. After his move, Howard could not start training because of a back injury. At the beginning of the season he was fit again and took his new place in the starting five of the Los Angeles Lakers. On January 4, 2013, he injured his shoulder in the game against the Los Angeles Clippers , tried to play in the next game despite injury and then fell out for three games due to a torn limbo . After 41 games, the Lakers had a modest 17 wins and 24 losses. At the end of the 2012/13 NBA season there were 45 wins and 37 losses. In the play-offs, the Lakers lost to the San Antonio Spurs after four games in the first round.

Houston Rockets (2013-2016)

Howard in the Rockets jersey, alongside Chandler Parsons (2014)

After the 2012–13 season, Howard became a free agent and was courted by the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets , Dallas Mavericks , Atlanta Hawks, and the Golden State Warriors . After meeting those responsible for these five teams, he decided on the Rockets. Howard was invited to the NBA All-Star Game for the eighth time. With Houston he reached the play-offs, but was eliminated in the first round against the Portland Trail Blazers . Due to a knee injury, he was out half the season and only played 41 games. In the play-offs he was operational again and reached the Western Conference finals with the Rockets, but where they were defeated by the eventual champions Golden State Warriors. The 2015/16 season was similar to the previous season for Howard and the Rockets. The Rockets just reached the play-offs with 41 wins this season, where they were eliminated again in the first round against the Warriors. Howard played 71 games this season, but with an average of 13.7 points, he had fewer points than he had since his rookie season.

Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets (2016-2018)

In July 2016, Howard signed a deal with the Atlanta Hawks , returning to his hometown. After a year with the Hawks, with which he reached the playoffs, he was transferred to the Charlotte Hornets in the summer of 2017 for Marco Belinelli and Miles Plumlee . Despite a personally good season, the Hornets clearly missed their entry into the 2018 playoffs. Shortly before Draftnight, the Hornets announced that Howard had been transferred to the Brooklyn Nets via Trade . However, the Nets agreed with Howard in direct return on a buyout, which made Howard a free agent.

National team

Howard was a member of the United States national basketball team from 2006 to 2008 . He took part in the 2006 World Cup in Japan , where the USA took bronze. In 2007 he won the American Championship with the team . In this tournament he achieved an average of 10 points and 6 rebounds per game with a throw rate of 80 percent. In 2008 he won the Olympic Summer Games in Beijing with the national team .

Achievements and Awards

• NBA All-Star (8): 2007-2014
• All-NBA Team (7)
  • All-NBA 1st Team: 2008–2012
  • All-NBA 3rd Team: 2007, 2013
• NBA Defensive Player of the Year (3): 2009-2011
• NBA All-Defensive Team (5)
  • NBA All-Defensive 1st Team: 2009–2012
  • NBA All-Defensive 2nd Team: 2008
• NBA All-Rookie First Team : 2005
• NBA Slam Dunk Champion : 2008
• Best rebounder in the league (5): 2008–2010, 2012, 2013
• Best shot blocker in the league (2): 2009, 2010

Others

Private life

Dwight Howard has an illegitimate son named Braylon Joshua Robert Howard in former Orlando Magic cheerleader Royce Reed. For a short time this sparked an argument with his devout Christian parents. He is also the father of four other children with different wives.

Howard campaigns against child abuse through his foundation, the Dwight D. Howard Foundation Inc., and supports students from socially disadvantaged families with scholarships .

advertising

Dwight Howard had risen to become one of the NBA's most popular basketball players in the 2000s. He dominated the all-star game voting in 2009 with 3,150,181 votes, making him the first player in NBA history to break the 3 million mark. This marketing value is worth millions to many companies. Among other things, Howard advertises 50 Cents Vitaminwater and T-Mobile US . Howard is under contract with Adidas and was represented in the so-called Adidas Brotherhood Team, a selection of the "best" NBA players who were determined by Adidas and which also included players like Tracy McGrady , Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan . Together with Adidas, Howard launched a new basketball shoe in October 2008, the "TS Commander" Dwight Howard.

Dwight Howard can be seen on the cover of the NBA Live 2010 basketball simulation .

Web links

Commons : Dwight Howard  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Dwight Howard - player profile on NBA.com
• Dwight Howard - player profile on basketball-reference.com
• Dwight Howard's homepage (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ usabasketball.com - All-Time USA Basketball Men's Roster // H ( Memento of the original from August 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ http://www.nba.com/draft2004/board.html
3. ↑ ^{a b} http://espndb.go.com/nba/finals/profile?id=2384&type=player  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/sports/basketball/dwight-howard-PESPT008416.topic
6. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 21, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ ^{a b} http://jockbio.com/Bios/DHoward/DHoward_bio.html
8. ↑ http://hoopshype.com/players/dwight_howard.htm
9. ↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2004/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=1821692
10. ↑ http://sportscards.about.com/od/rookiechecklist1/a/dhowardrc.htm
11. ↑ http://www.nba.com/games/20080503/ORLDET/recap.html
12. ↑ Basketball Reference: Magic vs. Thunder BoxScore
13. ↑ Superman Howard wins slam dunk contest Spox.com, February 17, 2008, accessed October 24, 2014.
14. ↑ NBA: Dwight Howard DPoY ( Memento of the original from September 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
15. ^ Welt Online , accessed December 15, 2011
16. ^ Dwight will stay for now anyway , accessed March 15, 2012
17. ↑ CF News 47  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed January 25, 2012  
18. ↑ Twilight Zone Orlando : Yet Another Trade Request From Dwight Howard?
19. ^ Dwight Howard Rumors: Agent Says D12 Won't Sign Extension If Traded
20. ↑ It's official: Howard deals to Lakers in four-team trade ( Memento of the original from August 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
21. ^ Hawks Sign Eight-Time NBA All-Star Dwight Howard
22. ↑ Hornets aquire eight-time NBA All-Star Howard from Hawks
23. ↑ Dwight Howard and Royce Reed have change of heart about each other In: rollingout.com , April 15, 2016, accessed March 27, 2018. (English)
24. ↑ Dwight Howard wants to share the hard lessons he learned In: si.com , September 19, 2017, accessed on March 27, 2018. (English)
25. ↑ All-Star-Game-Voting In: spox.com , January 23, 2009, accessed on March 27, 2018.
26. ^ Barkley pulls Dwight Howard's Hamstring, T-Mobile, Commercial ( Memento of February 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
27. ↑ Adidas: Basketball is a Brotherhood, Team ( Memento from October 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
28. ↑ Dwight Howard Shoes: What is he wearing and where to buy them - Current and past sneakers In: landofbasketball.com , accessed March 27, 2018.
29. ↑ Dwight Howard Named Cover Athlete of EA SPORTS NBA LIVE 10 In: ea.com , June 11, 2009, accessed March 27, 2018.