BIOGRAPHY
Dwight David Howard II was born on December 8, 1985, in Atlanta, Georgia. He played center in the National Basketball Association.
Howard began his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was an NBA champion, eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA Team honoree, five-time All-Defensive Team member, and three-time Defensive Player of the Year. Howard, who plays center, spent his high school career at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. He chose to forgo college, entered the 2004 NBA draft, and was selected first overall by the Orlando Magic. Howard set numerous franchise and league records with the Magic. He led the team to the 2009 NBA Finals.
On March 5, 2006, Howard was named to the 2006–2008 USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team program. As the team's regular starting center, he helped lead the team to a 5–0 record during its pre-World Championship tour, and subsequently helped the team win the bronze medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. During the FIBA Americas Championship 2007, Howard was on the team which won its first nine games en route to qualifying for the finals and a spot for the 2008 Olympics. He started in eight of those nine games, averaging 8.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg and led the team in shooting .778 from the field. In the finals, he made all seven of his shots and scored 20 points as the USA defeated Argentina to win the gold medal. On June 23, 2008, Howard was named as one of the members of the 12-man squad representing the United States in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. With Howard starting as center, Team USA won all of its games en route to the gold medal, restarting a streak of gold medals interrupted at the 2004 Olympics. Howard averaged 10.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in the tournament.
In 2012, after eight seasons with Orlando, Howard was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he spent three separate one year-stints over the course of his career, winning the NBA Finals in 2020. He has also played for the Houston Rockets, the Atlanta Hawks, the Charlotte Hornets, the Washington Wizards, and the Philadelphia 76ers.
After playing with the Lakers in 2021–22, Howard moved overseas and signed with the Taiwanese-based Leopards. In his first season with the team, he was named a T1 All-Star.
