Dwight Howard, one of the best heart of a technology, is headed to the Naismith Memorial Corridor of Fame.
The eight-time All-Star shall be enshrined as a part of the Corridor of Fame’s Class of 2025, in keeping with ESPN’s Shams Charania, becoming a member of former teammate Carmelo Anthony and others in Springfield on his first poll.
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Howard was named a finalist for the Class of 2025 in February and was inducted into the Orlando Magic’s Corridor of Fame final month. His Naismith enshrinement shall be formally introduced throughout a ceremony on the NCAA Last 4 on Saturday.
Howard’s profession noticed his star each rise and peak with the Orlando Magic, the place he earned 5 straight All-NBA first-team nods, gained three straight Defensive Participant of the 12 months Awards and led the group to the 2009 NBA Finals. No huge man altered the sport from the paint greater than he did throughout his prime with the Magic, with 20.6 factors, 13.9 rebounds and a pair of.5 blocks per sport from 2007-08 to 2011-12.
He stays one in all solely 4 gamers to win DPOY not less than 3 times, alongside Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace and Rudy Gobert. He was additionally the beginning heart on Group USA’s gold medal-winning 2008 Olympic basketball group, alongside Anthony, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant.
It was additionally in 2008 that Howard delivered probably the greatest Slam Dunk Contest performances the NBA has ever seen.
Howard entered the league as one of many later prep-to-pro phenoms and was chosen first general by the Magic within the 2004 NBA Draft, one thing of a shock given the hype behind UConn huge man Emeka Okafor. Howard definitely made it appear like a superb determination. It is what got here after his Orlando profession that led to Howard being considerably underrated traditionally, sufficient in order that he was among the many most controversial snubs from the NBA seventy fifth Anniversary Group.
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His divorce from the Magic was ugly and awkward, most notably throughout one of many league’s most surreal new conferences ever alongside head coach Stan Van Gundy. The scenario ended with a commerce to the Los Angeles Lakers, however he by no means discovered his outdated peak once more.
Howard spent the second half of his profession as a journeyman. He lasted three years with the Houston Rockets after a turbulent single season with the Lakers, then modified groups each offseason for the remainder of his NBA profession. He performed for the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers, with three separate one-year stints with the Lakers.
Dwight Howard was named one of the best heart within the NBA for 5 straight years. (Photograph by Gene Wang/Getty Pictures)
(Gene Wang through Getty Pictures)
It was his second tenure in 2019-20, the pandemic season, that noticed Howard win his first and solely NBA title with the Lakers. He was a stable, conventional huge man till the top of his profession; he simply occurred to be in a league the place that place was more and more going out of vogue.
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Howard’s profession in the end moved from promising to dominant to tough, however there are only a few huge males with résumés like his, even within the Corridor of Fame. It should not be a shock he obtained the decision from Naismith on his first poll, although he did make it clear days earlier that he did not want it.
Howard saved enjoying basketball after the 2021-22 season, his final within the NBA, most notably with a stint with Taiwan’s Taoyuan Leopards. He has popped up on tv in different areas since then, like within the twenty fourth season of “Dancing with the Stars.”
