Dwight Howard has been elected as a first-ballot member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Friday.
Howard was an eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA, three-time Defensive Player of Year, a 2020 NBA champion and won one Olympic gold medal with Team USA.
The Class of 2025 will be announced Saturday at the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio.
Howard averaged 15.7 points and 11.8 rebounds in 18 NBA seasons with the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers.
The preeminent defensive presence of his era, Howard, who was the No. 1 overall pick of the Magic in the 2004 draft, won three straight NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards from 2009 to 2011.
He led the Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals, and he won his only championship with the Lakers during the pandemic-affected 2019-20 season.
Howard also is remembered for his 2008 victory in the Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, with the Magic star donning a Superman costume — complete with cape — and soaring from just inside the free-throw line to throw down a vicious dunk to wow the crowd.
He will be joined in the Class of 2025 by Carmelo Anthony, sources told ESPN on Wednesday. Other finalists include men’s players Marques Johnson and Buck Williams, women’s players Jennifer Azzi, Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore, coaches Billy Donovan, Mark Few and Jerry Welsh, referee Danny Crawford, the 2008 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team.
Enshrinement weekend will begin at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut on Sept. 5, with the tip-off celebration and awards gala, inclusive of the Class of 2025 jacket and ring presentation and the annual Hall of Fame Awards. The enshrinement ceremony will take place Sept. 6 in Springfield at the Hall of Fame.
