Dwight Howard · Biography

Dwight David Howard II was born on December 8, 1985, in Atlanta, Georgia, and came through Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. A 6-foot-10 center, he went straight from high school to the NBA as the first overall pick in 2004. Across 18 seasons in the league he won three Defensive Player of the Year awards and the 2020 championship with the Los Angeles Lakers.

High school in Atlanta

Howard played his high school basketball at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. In his senior year, 2003-04, he collected nearly every national award available: Naismith Prep Player of the Year, Gatorade National Player of the Year, Morgan Wootten High School Player of the Year and McDonald's National High School Player of the Year. He was also co-MVP of the McDonald's All-American Game, a first-team Parade All-American and Mr. Georgia Basketball. He skipped college and declared directly for the 2004 NBA draft.

Eight seasons in Orlando

The Orlando Magic made him the No. 1 pick of the 2004 draft. He became an All-Star for the first time in 2007 and was selected every year through 2014, eight in a row. In 2008 he won the Slam Dunk Contest with the dunk in a Superman cape, the nickname that stayed with him for the rest of his career. He made the All-NBA First Team five straight times from 2008 to 2012, and won Defensive Player of the Year in 2009, 2010 and 2011. In 2009 he led the Magic to the NBA Finals, where they lost 4-1 to the Lakers. He led the league in blocks in 2009 and 2010. On January 24, 2012, he passed Shaquille O'Neal as the franchise's all-time leading scorer.

Lakers, Houston and a string of moves

On August 10, 2012, a four-team trade that also involved Philadelphia and Denver sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers. After one season there he signed with the Houston Rockets in July 2013 and reached the 2015 Western Conference Finals, lost 4-1 to the Golden State Warriors. Between 2008 and 2013 he won five rebounding titles. In July 2016 he went home to sign with the Atlanta Hawks; in June 2017 he was traded to the Charlotte Hornets, and in July 2018 to the Brooklyn Nets, who waived him without his playing a game. He spent that season with the Washington Wizards. In July 2019 he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, who waived him in August.

The 2020 title

Once released by Memphis, he rejoined the Lakers for 2019-20 in a bench role: 69 games, 7.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. In the Western Conference Finals against Denver he started Game 4 to match up with Nikola Jokic. The Lakers beat the Miami Heat 4-2 in the Finals, played in the Orlando bubble, and Howard won his first and only NBA championship. In November 2020 he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, and in 2021 he returned to the Lakers for a third time, playing his last NBA season there in 2021-22. He finished his NBA career with 19,485 points, 14,627 rebounds and 2,228 blocks in the regular season.

Team USA

With the United States he won bronze at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan. Two years later he was part of the squad that took Olympic gold at Beijing 2008, the team known as the Redeem Team.

Taiwan, the Hall of Fame and Georgia

On November 7, 2022, he signed with the Taoyuan Leopards of Taiwan's T1 League. He debuted with 38 points, 25 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 blocks in a 120-115 win over the New Taipei CTBC DEA. In that 2022-23 season he led the league in rebounding and was named Most Valuable Import, All-T1 First Team, All-Defensive First Team and All-Star Game MVP. On March 24, 2025, the Magic made him the 13th member of their Hall of Fame, and on September 6, 2025, he was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, both individually and as part of the 2008 Olympic team. He announced his retirement on March 12, 2026, but signed with Georgian club Black Fortress Tbilisi later that year. He played two games for the club, which announced his final retirement in October 2026.