Former NBA center Dwight Howard has been elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and will be part of the class of 2025, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The first overall pick in the 2004 draft, Howard immediately became the starting center for the Magic and spent the next eight seasons in Orlando, winning three Defensive Player of the Year awards with the team and finishing in the top five in MVP voting in four consecutive seasons from 2008-11. The Magic made the playoffs in six straight years during Howard’s tenure, appearing in the NBA Finals in 2009.
From 2012-22, Howard bounced around the NBA, spending time with the Lakers, Rockets, Hawks, Hornets, Wizards, and Sixers. He had three separate stints with the Lakers during that decade and won his first and only championship with the team in 2020.
Howard earned a total of eight All-Star nods and appeared on eight All-NBA teams, including five First Teams, over the course of his 18-year NBA career. In addition to winning DPOY three times, he made an All-Defensive team five teams, including claiming a spot on the First Team for four years in a row from 2009-12.
Howard led the league in rebounding five times and currently ranks 11th on the NBA’s all-time rebounding list. He was also the league leader in blocked shots twice and ranks 15th all-time in that category.
The big man didn’t play college basketball but fortified his Hall of Fame résumé by winning an Olympic gold medal with Team USA in Beijing in 2008.
The Hall of Fame will officially announce its full class of 2025 on Saturday at the NCAA Final Four. According to reporting from Charania, Howard and another former NBA star, Carmelo Anthony, will be among the first-ballot selections in that group.