(ThyBlackMan.com) The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will soon be adding more members to its unique Hall of Fame in 2025. One person from that Hall of Fame class of 2025, Dwight Howard, carried the weight of being a high school phenom entering the NBA during the 2000s. Howard was arguably the second highest profile high school to NBA prospect of the 2000s, only behind a certain Los Angeles Laker who is also made career moves in Cleveland and Miami. For some people, Dwight Howard’s inclusion into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is a head scratcher as he was never the best player on an NBA championship team nor did he ever win an NBA Most Valuable Player award. However, he is without a doubt one of the greatest defensive centers of all time and a deserving member of the Hall of Fame.
Looking at the beginning of Howard’s entry into the NBA, there was a lot of pressure on him as he was the number one overall pick of the 2004 NBA Draft. The NBA Draft after LeBron James entered the league and had a strong rookie year to capture the Rookie of the Year award. It is also easy to forget that Howard was considered a high upside pick compared to the other potential prospect of UConn center Emeka Okafor, who had led UConn to a national championship with his incredible shot blocking prowess. The risks of taking a high school player to enter the NBA during the early 2000s were still considered high by many as LeBron James and Dwight Howard started their NBA careers with the weight of expectations even without the intense glare of today’s social media landscape.
As a teenager entering the NBA, Dwight Howard wore his religion loud and openly. Becoming the first overall pick of the 2004 NBA Draft for the Orlando Magic, Howard leaned on his faith and worked to become a multiple time All-Star and three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year while being his strength and body into being an excellent rebounder and defender. While he never became a great offensive player, he was good enough on that end to overpower most other centers in the NBA during the 2000s and 2010s. Howard’s star rose after he won the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Contest with some virtual and incredible dunks that included him wearing a Superman cape. That might have also sparked a longtime feud with former Magic great Shaquille O’Neal, who might have taken umbrage to Howard having the “Superman” moniker and doing so as the NBA All-Star center for the Magic as Shaq used to be.
Among Howard’s greatest achievements was leading the Magic to one of the biggest playoff upsets in NBA history when his Magic defeated the LeBron James-led Cavaliers in the 2009 NBA Playoffs during the Eastern Conference Finals as basketball fans eagerly anticipated a Cavaliers vs Lakers NBA Finals featuring LeBron versus Kobe Bryant. Howard’s defense for a team that was challenged defensively on the perimeter and the team three-point shooting of the Magic sparked them to the NBA Finals where they fell to Kobe’s Lakers in six games in that 2009 NBA Finals.
For all of Howard’s basketball accomplishments, it is difficult to ignore Howard’s eye-opening off-the court situations over the years including being critical of his fatherhood after being preachy with his religion at times and the 2023 sexual assault allegations of a man he admitted he was intimate with consensually. When you have the public missteps that Dwight Howard has had, it is easy to remember that he was very outspoken about his character as it relates to his religion. Even with all those issues outside of basketball, it is important to give Howard some credit regarding his stance on Palestine as it relates to friction with the NBA. Howard wouldn’t be the first prominent athlete to support the Palestinian struggle. Dwight Howard has had a strange path to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines
