Dwight Howard

 Dwight David Howard II (born on December 8th 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League. Howard is an NBA champion as well as an eight-time All-Star and a eight-time All-NBA Team selection and five-time All-Defensive Team member. Howard, who plays in the center position, attended Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy in high school. He decided to skip college, entered the 2004 NBA draft and was selected as the as the first pick in the overall selection by the Orlando Magic. Howard has set numerous franchise and league records during his time with the Magic. After spending eight seasons in Orlando, Howard led the team to the 2009 NBA Finals. Howard was traded to Los Angeles Lakers in 2012. Howard spent three seasons with them, and won the NBA championship in the year 2020. Howard has played for the Houston Rockets and the Atlanta Hawks and also the Charlotte Hornets and the Washington Wizards. He was also part of the Philadelphia 76ers. His father is a State Trooper in Georgia and is the athletic director of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, a private academy with one of the country's best basketball programs for high schools His mother was on the inaugural women's basketball team at Morris Brown College. Howard was seven times miscarried before his birth. Howard was a fervent Christian from his youth, began to take interest in basketball at the age of nine. [3][4] Despite his large body, Howard was quick and flexible enough to play the guard position. 4 He attended Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy and was primarily a power forward, scoring 16.6 points, 13.4 rebounds and 6.3 blocks per game over the 129 games he played in. 1 4 Howard as a senior, led his team to a 31-2 record and the state championship.[4][5] He averaged 25 points 18 boards, 8.1 blocks, and 3.5 assists per match. Howard was widely regarded as the best American basketball player at high school in 2004 and was awarded the Naismith Prep Player of the Month Award, the Morgan Wootten High School Player of the YEAR Award as well as the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award as well as the McDonald's National High School Player of the award as well as the Morgan Wootten High School Player of the Week Award. He was also co-MVP of the McDonald's All-American Game with J. R. Smith. [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] Howard chose the number 12 as his number because it was different from Garnett's 21, when he played for Minnesota. [8] Howard was a part of the diminished Magic team that had ended with just 21 wins the previous season; further the team had recently lost perennial NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady. 4 Howard however, had an immediate impression. The rookie season ended with an average of 12 points, 10 rebounds, and nine NBA records. He became the youngest player in NBA history to achieve an average of a double-double during the regular season. In addition, he was the youngest player in NBA history to average at least 10 rebounds in an entire season. He was also the is the youngest NBA player to ever record more than 20 rebounds in an entire game. Howard's contributions to the Magic was evident in his debut season as the first player to play all 82 NBA games right out of high school. In recognition of his achievements Howard was picked to take part at the 2005 NBA Rookie Challenge, and was unanimously selected for the All-Rookie Team. In addition, he placed third in the Rookie of the Year voting.Howard began training for his second NBA season having added 20 pounds of muscle in the off-season. Orlando coach Brian Hill, who is responsible in bringing up former Magic star Shaquille O'Neal -- decided that Howard could be transformed into a full-fledged center. Hill identified two areas that Howard requires improvement: his post up game and his defense. Hill put extra pressure on Howard and said that the Magic needed Howard to be a force in the middle before the team had a chance at the playoffs. Howard scored 21 points and grabbed 20 rebounds against the Charlotte Bobcats on November 15 the 15th of November, 2005. Howard became the youngest player to score 20+ points and get 20or more rebounds in the same game. Howard was selected to be part of the Sophomore Team in the 2006 Rookie Challenge during the All-Star break. He averaged 15.8 points per game, and 12.5 rebounding per game and was ranked second in the NBA for rebounds per match and offensive rebounds. He also had double-doubles as well as field goal percentage and offensive rebounding. Howard's gains were not enough to help the Magic get to the playoffs. The team finished the season with a 36-46 record and didn't qualify for the second consecutive season. Howard also played in all 82 regular season games during the 2006-07 season. He was selected as reserve for the Eastern Conference team in the 2007 NBA All-Star Game. In February, he scored an alley-oop that won the game off of an inbound shot at the end of the game against the San Antonio Spurs.Howard achieved a new career high with 35 points in the game against the Philadelphia 76ers on April 14.Under his direction the Magic qualified for the 2007 NBA Playoffs as the eighth seed from the Eastern Conference. The Magic were defeated by the Detroit Pistons during the first round. [16] For the year, Howard averaged 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds per game and was ranked first in the NBA in total rebounds as well as second in field-goal percentage and ninth in blocks. Howard was named to the All-NBA Third Team at the end of the 2006-07 campaign.Howard continued to post impressive numbers throughout the 2007-08 season and helped the Magic achieve their best season since. Howard was selected as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team. [18] On February 16, 2008 Howard won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest by receiving 78% of the voters' votes via text messages or online voting. In that contest, he performed several dunks with a twist believed to have revitalized the competition, which included wearing the Superman cape for one of his dunks. 20. Howard led the Magic to their first Division title in 12 years, as well as the third seed for the 2008 NBA Playoffs. In their first round game against the Toronto Raptors, Howard's dominance (three 20-point, 20-rebound games) helped Orlando to prevail in five games. Howard's series total (91 rebound) was higher than the total of the whole Toronto frontcourt. The Magic lost five games in the second round, a loss to Detroit's Pistons. Howard was selected to the All-NBA First Team as well as the NBA All-Defensive 2 Team.