Dwight Howard

 Dwight David Howard II (born on December 8th 1985) is an American professional basketball player with the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League. Howard is an NBA champion as well as an eight-time All-Star, an eight-time All-NBA Team honoree and five-time All-Defensive Team member. Howard, who plays center, attended Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy in high school. Howard chose to not attend school and was drafted in the 2004 NBA Draft, where he was chosen by the Orlando Magic as the first overall pick. Howard established many records for the league and franchise during his time with the Magic. After spending eight seasons in Orlando, Howard led the team to the 2009 NBA Finals. Howard was transferred to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2012. Howard spent three seasons with them, and won the NBA championship in 2020. He has also played for the Houston Rockets, the Atlanta Hawks and the Charlotte Hornets, the Washington Wizards as well as the Philadelphia 76ers.Early lifeHoward was born in Atlanta, to Dwight Sr. and Sheryl Howard, a family with strong athletic connections. His father, a Georgia State Trooper, is currently the director of the athletic department at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. This private school has one of the top high basketball teams in the United States. The Howards' mother was on the first team of women's basketball at Morris Brown College. Howard's mother was a victim of seven miscarriages before she was born. Howard, a devout Christian since his childhood started to show interest in basketball at nine. [3][43][4] Howard regardless of being a sizeable man, was agile and flexible enough to be able to play in the position of guard. [4] Howard attended Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. He was primarily a power forward. In his 129 games, he scored 16.6 points, 13.4 rebound and 6.3 blocks per game. Howard, as a senior, won the state championship. Howard as a senior player, led his team to a 31-2 record and the 2004 state championship.[4][5 Howard averaged 25 points, 18 boards, 8.1 blocks, and 3.5 assists per game. In the same year, he was widely recognized as the most successful American high school basketball player, and received the Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award as well as the Morgan Wootten High School Player of the Year Award, Gatorade National Player of the Year and the McDonald's National High School Player of the award. [6] He was also co-MVP (with J. R. Smith) of the McDonald's All-American Game that year. [6] On January 31, 2012, Howard was honored as one of the 35 greatest McDonald's All-Americans.Professional careerOrlando Magic (2004-2012)Early years (2004-2008Following his high school successes, Howard chose to forego college and declared for the 2004 NBA draft--a decision partly inspired by his idol Kevin Garnett who had done the same in 1995--where the Orlando Magic selected him first overall over UConn junior Emeka Okafor. [1][4] He took the number 12 for his jersey, partly because it was the reverse of Garnett's 21 when he played for Minnesota. Howard was a part of a Magic team with only 21 wins the previous season. Additionally, Tracy McGrady, a perennial NBA All-Star, was included on the team. Howard had an immediate impact. Howard finished his rookie season with an average of 12 points and 10 rebound, and set a number of NBA records in the process. He was the youngest player to record a double-double in regular season NBA basketball. In addition, he became the first player in NBA history to average at least 10 rebounds in the course of a season, and was the most importantly, he was the youngest NBA player ever to record at least 20 rebounds a game. Howard's contribution to the Magic was highlighted by his debut season , which was the first player to play every one of the his 82 NBA games right out of high school. Howard was elected unanimously to the All-Rookie Team for his efforts during the 2005 NBA Rookie Challenge. He also placed third in the Rookie of the Year voting.Howard began training to begin his second NBA season, having gained 20 pounds of muscle mass during the off-season. Brian Hill, Orlando coach and in charge of Shaquille O'Neal's training, determined that Howard could be a full-time centre. Hill identified two areas where Howard required improvement in his post-up game as well as his defense. Hill put extra pressure on Howard by stating that the Magic required Howard to be a powerful midfielder if they were likely to make the playoffs. Howard scored 21 points and grabbed 20 rebounds against the Charlotte Bobcats on November 15 in 2005. He became the first player to record 20+ points and score 20or more rebounds in the same game. Howard was chosen to take part in the 2006 Rookie Challenge, during which he was a member of the Sophomore Team. He averaged 15.8 points per game and 12.5 rebound per game which was second in the NBA in terms of rebounds per match and offensive rebounds. He also had double-doubles and field goal percentage and offensive rebounds. Despite Howard's improvements however, the Magic finished the season with a record of 36-46 and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second time in a row season since Howard's arrival.Howard and Jameer Nelson in the 2006-07 season (and for the third consecutive season), Howard played in every single game of the regular season. The first day of February, 2007, he received his first NBA All-Star selection as a reserve player on the Eastern Conference squad for the 2007 NBA All-Star Game. In February, he made a game-winning alley-oop off an inbound shot at the buzzer against the San Antonio Spurs.Howard achieved a new career high by scoring 35 points against the Philadelphia 76ers on April 14.Under his leadership the Magic qualified for the 2007 NBA Playoffs as the eighth seed from the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, the Magic were eliminated by the Detroit Pistons in the first round. Howard finished the year with 17.6 points per game and 12.3 rebound. Howard was second in the NBA in total rebounding and third in field goal percentage and ninth in blocks. Howard was named to the All-NBA third team at the close of the of the 2006-07 season. His stellar performances led the Magic to have their best season yet. Howard was selected as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team. In February 16, 2008 Howard was the winner of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest by receiving 78% of the voters' votes via text messages or online voting; in the contest, he threw down several dunks with a twist that were said to have revived the contest, including donning a Superman cape to perform one of his dunks. Howard helped lead the Magic to their first division title after twelve years. They were also third in the 2008 NBA Playoffs. (19) Orlando took five wins in their first round games against the Toronto Raptors thanks to Howard's dominance. He played three games with 20 points and 20 rebound. Howard's total series of 91 rebounds was also more than the total of rebound total of the Toronto frontcourt. The Magic lost five games in the second round, a loss to Detroit's Pistons. Howard was named for the All-NBA First Team and was named to the NBA All-Defensive 2 Team.