"Howard is a player who can really rely on one person to support the defensive system." Former Magic coach Van Gundy said.
As we all know, the Magic is rich in No. 1 centers. In the past, there was the Magic Shark who killed the dream of the basketball god, and later there was the Superman Warcraft who broke the "23vs24".
The person I want to introduce today is the strongest center after the Sharks. He is the last high school player in the NBA. He is the favorite of the Magic. However, his career has been plagued by injuries and he has had bad luck in many teams. In the end, he finally turned around and got the championship ring of his dreams.
Hey! Hello everyone! I am the quarterback, and today I will take you back to the era of World of Warcraft. On December 8, 1985, Dwight Howard was born into a sports family in Atlanta. His mother had seven miscarriages before he was born. His father called the child a "miracle son."
His father served as the athletic director of the university, and his mother was a college basketball player. Because of Howard's outstanding athletic talent, Howard officially came into contact with the sport of basketball when he was 9 years old.
At that time, Howard needed height, speed, and speed. While having good physical resistance, he also maintained a good shooting touch, and even his dribbling skills were not a problem.
In seventh grade, Howard once listed his seven wishes, one of which was "to become the number one pick in the NBA in the future!" And Howard's first idol was the god of basketball Jordan . He would watch Jordan's tapes over and over again. And repeatedly imitated his and .
But as I grow older. His idol gradually changed from Jordan to Magic. Because he admires Magic's perfect combination of height and ball-handling skills. After that, the emergence of Garnett and seemed to let him see what he would look like in the future.
When Howard entered high school in 1998, he was positioned as a point guard. After an offseason, Howard's height soared, and his position on the court also moved to power forward. At this time, Howard was like a point guard with a center body.
He not only has the inside footsteps of a big man, but also has the dribbling skills of a point guard. And Howard, with his gradually revealed talent, led the team to a victory in the high school league, and finally led the team to win the state championship in his senior year.
Senior Howard continued to perform at a high level, dominating the Atlanta Division, winning the High School Player of the Year and McDonald's All-Star Game MVP. After being baptized in the high school arena and the All-Star Game, this miracle son also began to show his talents.
At this time, Howard learned that his draft price was at least the first round. After careful consideration, Howard decided to leapfrog and challenge the NBA, and he became the last high school No. 1 pick in NBA history.
"They actually used the No. 1 pick to select a high school student. It's so crazy!" In the 2004 NBA draft, the Magic gave up the more mature Okafor . I chose to bet on a high school player. And it turns out that the Magic bet was right.
Time came to the 2004 draft lottery ceremony. I watched the beating ping pong ball in front of me slowly stop. In the end, the Orlando Magic won the No. 1 pick this year.
After hearing the news, Howard breathed a sigh of relief. He knew he had a chance to realize his dream of being the No. 1 pick because the Magic were short of an inside player at that time, and Howard had only one competitor at the time, and that was Okafor, who had won the NCAA championship and was more mature.
But the Magic obviously valued Howard's future potential more. In the end, Howard was selected by the Magic with the top spot in this year's draft. After Howard entered Orlando, the team also began to strengthen around him.
html In his rookie season of 104-05, Howard averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds per game. Not only was he the first high school player in NBA history to average double-digit rebounds in his rookie game, he was also the only rookie to start all games in his rookie season.
Due to injuries and personnel turnover within the team this season, the team still missed the playoffs, but Howard's performance was still recognized by people. He was selected to the Rookie First Team and ranked third in the Best Rookie voting.
Compared with his performance on the offensive end, Howard's performance on the defensive end is even better. In his rookie season, he had 3 games with 20 rebounds. This is also a new record since Sharks entered the league in 1993.
Coming to the 2005-06 season, the team did not have any major changes this season. The only change was Howard's stronger body, so the team also began to let Howard play the fifth position. This season, Howard continued to perform efficiently.
scored 21 points and 20 rebounds against the Bobcats on November 15, 2005, becoming a young 20+20 player. At the end of the season, Howard ranked second in the league in all rebounding data. However, although Howard's performance continued to improve, the team's record did not change much from the previous year, and they never made it to the playoffs.
It wasn't until Howard's third season that his situation began to improve. In the first 11 games of the season, Howard had three 20+20 performances. As Howard continues to improve, the Magic have also begun to grow from a weakling in the league to a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference.
Howard was also selected to the All-Star for the first time, and the Magic also entered the playoffs for the first time after Howard joined. Although they were swept by the Pistons in the first round, the team's progress was also noticed. At the end of the season, Howard was also recognized as the best third team.
Howard's progress was noticed by the team, and the management also believed that this kid could lead the team further. Therefore, this summer, the Magic signed a five-year, 85 million contract with Howard, and the name of Warcraft was about to show its style.
"He doesn't look like a 20-year-old. He has a bright future. I am very happy that I will be out of the league by the time Howard reaches his peak." This is what Duncan said in an interview in 2007.
In the 2007-08 season, Howard continued to perform efficiently, averaging 20 points and 14 rebounds per game during the season, surpassing all centers in the league.
At this time, he is undoubtedly the strongest penalty area tower in NAB, and the Magic are also continuing to strengthen around Howard. Former Seattle Twin Star Lewis, All-Star Point Guard Niles and many other good players, now this team is all shooters except Warcraft.
Even in one game, the Magic team hit 23 three-pointers because they fully trusted the Warcraft in the penalty area. With the efforts of everyone, the Magic also entered the playoffs again with the third place in the Eastern Conference.
This year, Howard was selected to the first team of the year, won the rebounding title, was selected to the All-Star again, won the slam dunk contest and was selected to the defensive second team. The addition of many honors also made people start to compare him with James who entered the league a year earlier.
is also the top pick in high school and can also dominate the court, but the only difference is that James led the team to the finals in the fourth year of his career, while Howard did not lead the Magic further in the playoffs.
Fortunately, things changed in the 08-09 season. This season was a bumper year for Howard. He entered Dream Eight and helped the US team win a gold medal. The team built a one-inside and four-outside system around Howard.
This season, under the leadership of Howard, the Magic once again achieved great results, recording a record of 59 wins and entering the playoffs in third place in the Eastern Conference. At the same time, Howard won numerous honors this year, was elected as the All-Star vote winner, was once again selected to the first team, selected to the first defense, and won the rebounding title. Block leader and DPOY.
first killed 76 people in the playoffs, and then defeated the defending champion Celtics. In the Eastern Conference finals, they met the Cavaliers led by James, who is also the favorite of heaven. The two sides fought for 6 games. In the end, the Magic entered the finals 4:2, breaking the 23VS24 century showdown.
After winning the Eastern Conference's No. 1 Cavaliers, the Magic's momentum surged and they were aiming for the championship. However, the Magicians who came to the finals were shattered by the Purple and Gold Legion with revenge and anger.
Although he failed to win the cup in the end, Howard showed a dominant performance in all aspects this year. It also made people say that, "He can just replace James" remarks.
html In the 109-10 season, Howard continued such a dominant performance, winning the blocks and rebounds title, winning first-team defense and winning DPOY again. He once again led the team to a 59-win record and entered the playoffs, but failed to reach the finals again.
In the next two years, although Howard tripled DPOY, and although the team's regular season record was as stable as ever, they failed to go further in the future, and Howard was very dissatisfied with the team's stagnant record and began to propose trades to the team.
Finally, in the summer of 2012, a four-party deal that shocked the league took place.
"I am the No. 1 center, and the person sitting next to me is the No. 1 shooting guard. What else can't we do now?" Howard said with a smile at the Lakers press conference.
On August 10, 2012, after a four-party transaction, Howard officially joined the Purple and Gold Army to form a new generation of Lakers F4. Howard also transformed from the team boss to the second boss.
At this time, the Lakers once again became a strong contender for the championship, but this season was the worst season of Howard's career. He was plagued by injuries and began to decline. The Lakers also started with 17 wins and 24 losses, and the team's chemical reaction failed.
Kobe did not agree with Howard's concept of basketball. Kobe only had basketball in his heart. He believed that Howard would not share the ball, did not train hard, and liked to be lazy. This also made Howard's reputation worse and worse. This result also destined that the two were not suitable for playing together.
In the end, the Lakers were directly disbanded after being swept by the Spurs in the playoffs, and Howard also refused the team's maximum salary extension.
In the summer of 2013, Howard announced that he was going to the Rockets and signed a four-year, 88 million contract, forming a modern combination with Harden .
His naturally fun-loving personality and his lackadaisical personality that doesn't like to endure hardship once again caused conflicts between him and his teammates.
Time came to the 15-16 season. In the blink of an eye, this big boy had reached his thirties, but the team's record did not improve at all, and the team atmosphere gradually deteriorated. In the end, Howard left in frustration this summer and joined his hometown team Atlanta Hawks .
However, Howard was no longer young at this time and had already passed his peak. At the age of 31, it was the age when a center began to decline. Although he could still prove his influence on the court during the Hawks period, his performance failed to cover up his flaws.
His mentality is still immature and he still doesn't work hard in training. Such actions also made his teammates very dissatisfied. In the end, Howard's hometown team sent him to the Charlotte Hornets after only one season.
Although his status rebounded after coming to Hornets , this performance did not win the team's trust in him. After the end of the 18th season, he was once again sent to and the Nets as a trading chip, and the Nets did not give him the opportunity to directly buy him out of .
The former number one center is now being kicked around like a ball. Where has the former World of Warcraft gone? At the end of the 19th season, Howard signed a contract with the Wizards .
But after coming to the Wizards, Howard has been in a state of recuperation. It also made many people speculate. Maybe this is the end of his career.
However, everything turned around in the summer of 2019. This summer, Howard was traded by the Wizards to the Grizzlies. After learning that the Grizzlies did not intend to keep him, Howard finally realized the seriousness of the problem.
He began to think about why he ended up in this situation, and the answer was that he was immature in the past. Now he will change his appearance, train hard and regain people's trust.
The best center of the year has become a marginal player in the league that no one wants. After experiencing a trough, he is bound to be reborn.
In the summer of 2019, Howard, who spent five years with five teams, was finally signed by the Lakers with a veteran's minimum salary. This was his final redemption.
"Now Howard is the Lakers' best center after Howard!" Doesn't this sentence seem very strange? This is the evaluation of Howard who returned to Los Angeles.
Lakers boss Jeanie Buss once said: "We are willing to sign him because Kobe has made a guarantee for him, because Kobe wants the Lakers to win, and he is optimistic about Howard." He would start with the dirtiest and most tiring work.
He began to lose weight and gain muscle. He began to practice late into the night. He began to lower his posture. He developed mid-range shot . He began to pay more attention to the importance of the team. He worked hard to become a person liked by the team and teammates.
He came to Los Angeles, which had changed his destiny, and he expected to change his destiny again. But what is different from the past is that this time he wants to firmly control his destiny in his own hands.
So in this Lakers, we saw a different Howard. He is no longer the absolute core of the team and cannot produce 20+10 data. Although he lost a lot, he also gained something brand new, new highs in advanced statistics and the No. 1 record in the Western Conference.
Kobe passed away unfortunately in January of this year. Howard also expressed the highest respect to Kobe. He once again wore a Superman jacket in the dunk contest. The difference was that this time his chest was shining with the glory of No. 24.
Howard's good performance this season has been obvious to the fans, helping the Lakers all the way to the Western Conference Finals. Facing the unstoppable Teacher Yue, Howard stood up, taught Teacher Yue a good lesson, and successfully brought down Jokic.
This year, he once again stood on the stage of the finals, and this year, he will also fulfill his long-cherished wish that he could not fulfill before.
This time in the game, he rediscovered his good pick-and-roll and cover runs. This time he no longer pursued dunks, but layup and put the ball firmly into the basket to score two points. His athletic ability is still excellent, and his defensive effect is still efficient. In the end, Howard, who worked hard like this, helped the Lakers win the championship this year.
Although he is no longer the core of the team at this time, he is an indispensable and important puzzle piece for the Lakers to win the championship. And this is Howard's road to redemption. This kind of him may not be the Howard he wants to be, but this kind of him must be the Warcraft that fans most want to see.
html At the age of 134, he has gone through a less than successful past, and now he is about to embark on a new journey.
" Howard is the biggest legacy of the NBA 75!" Howard came to the Lakers to fulfill his dream, but more of it was self-salvation.
, as a former giant and the former face of the league, is still a teenager when he returns after experiencing thousands of sails.
Howard's career is like a man's life. He is old and honest, but he can still earn three pounds? Meeting the right person at the right time, Howard experienced the frivolousness of his youth, and now he has completely seen himself and the importance of the team.
After the 21-22 season, Howard's contract expired again, and Master Huo's NBA career also came to an end. But his love for basketball is still there.
From a superstar to a street rat to getting up again, maybe people are like this. Only after going through the trough can they know how to be satisfied. The career of Warcraft is like, "The prodigal returns with gold, and he returns home in glory and becomes a wise man" .
Although he may never catch up with the self he once had high hopes for, he never stops running.
Well, the story of Warcraft ends here. I am a quarterback, follow me and continue to bring you more stories about basketball. See you next time.
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