Dwight David Howard (* December 8 1985 in Atlanta , Georgia ) is an American basketball player . Since 2004 he plays in the American professional league NBA with the Orlando Magic . He moved directly from high school (Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy) in the NBA and was the Magic in the first place in the 2004 NBA Draft selected. Howard is 2.11 meters tall and plays the position of the center . His physique and his playing style inspired comparisons to Darryl Dawkins and Shaquille O’Neal on.
Howard was born the third of four children of the couple’s Dwight Howard, Sr. and Sheryl Howard in a family with strong athletic ability. He got after his birth the nickname “The Miracle Child” as his mother had previously suffered seven miscarriages. His father was a professional policeman, was also a physical education teacher at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, the later school of Dwight Howard. Sheryl Howard was a captain in the female basketball team of Morris Brown College. He was inspired at a young age by his parents to the basketball and trained. Already in the eighth grade Howard had set the goal to win the national championship once and the first choice in the NBA Draft to be.
In high school, Howard was able to because of his height – 2.08 m in ninth grade – achieve exceptional speed and agility on average 16.6 points, 13.4 rebounds and 6.3 blocks in 129 games, mostly on the position of the power forward , but sometimes also on the position of guards who are usually smaller players is restricted. was the last year of high school Howard won as the outstanding talent with his team the state championship in Georgia and attract such a stir at the Talent Scouts . He scored an average of outstanding 25 points, 18 rebounds, 8 blocks and 3.5 assists per game and has for that service numerous awards received, including prestigious awards like the Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award, the Gatorade Player of the Year Award and the McDonald’s National High School Player of the Year, all in 2004. He was also working with JR Smith as Co-MVP at selected McDonald’s All-American Game in 2004, a game between the best national high school basketball players, similar to the NBA All-Star Game for NBA players. It was in 2004 also voted Mr. Basketball in the state of Georgia. was hardly surprising therefore its decision, the college education to skip and instead go directly into the U.S. professional league NBA as previously Howard’s favorite player, Kevin Garnett did in 1995, Howard was influenced by his style of play and has designed for the Howard model his playing style.
