Juwan Howard

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Juwan Howard
Position Power forward
Height ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Weight 253 lb (115 kg)
League NBA
Team Dallas Mavericks
Jersey #55
Born February 7, 1973 (1973-02-07) (age 35)
Chicago, Illinois
Nationality USA
High school Chicago Vocational
(Chicago, Illinois)
College Michigan
Draft 5th overall, 1994
Washington Bullets
Pro career 1994–present
Former teams Washington Bullets/Wizards (1994–2001)
Dallas Mavericks (2001–2002)
Denver Nuggets (2002–2003)
Orlando Magic (2003–2004)
Houston Rockets (2004–2007)
Awards NBA All-Star (1996)
All-NBA (1996)
All-Rookie(1995)
All-American (1994)[1]
Official profile Info Page

Juwan Antonio Howard (born February 7, 1973 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American professional basketball player in the NBA, currently with the Dallas Mavericks. He is a former All-Star and All-NBA power forward and was a member of the University of Michigan Wolverines' "Fab Five" (along with Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson) that reached the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games as both freshmen and sophomores.

Contents

[edit] Career

Howard had a successful career at Chicago Vocational High School and can be seen playing in the high school basketball documentary Hoop Dreams. He left Michigan after his junior year (though he still managed to graduate on time), and was taken by the Washington Bullets fifth overall in the 1994 NBA Draft. When Chris Webber, his teammate and friend from college, joined Washington that same season, a lot of people thought that the "Fab Five" would bode for a bright future for the Washington franchise. Together with Gheorghe Muresan, a 7 feet 7 inch (231 centimetres) Romanian center, Calbert Cheaney, a swingman from Indiana University, veteran point guards Mark Price and Robert Pack as well as the promising rookie Rasheed Wallace, many saw the Bullets as a secure playoff lock. But Webber, Price and Pack missed almost the entire 1995-96 season due to injuries. That very season, the Bullets managed to pull off 39 victories, just barely missing the playoffs. The team's win total might have been considerably less had it not been for Howard's stellar offensive play. He became just the second player in Washington franchise history, after Bernard King, to post back-to-back 40-point games (against Boston on July 17, 1996 with 40, and at Toronto on July 19, 1996 with 42). Averaging 22.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists, he was invited to the Eastern Conference's All-Star team for the first and only time in his career.

After that season, many saw Howard as an up and coming superstar. Howard also became a free agent after that season. A lot of teams wanted him, but Howard decided to sign a $101 million contract with the Miami Heat on July 15, 1996. Yet the contract was disallowed by the NBA, the reason being that it was not in accordance with the existing salary cap rules. Howard then re-signed with the Bullets on August 5. He became the first player in NBA history to sign a contract worth over S100 million, his seven-year contract being worth S105 million. Though he always put up decent offensive numbers during his tenure in Washington (about 18 points and 8 rebounds per game), he never reached the level of All-Star status again.

After Michael Jordan joined the re-named Washington Wizards, he pulled off a huge trade that sent Howard, together with Obinna Ekezie and Calvin Booth to the Dallas Mavericks for Christian Laettner, Loy Vaught, Etan Thomas, Hubert Davis, Courtney Alexander and cash on February 22, 2001. The Mavs traded him with Donnell Harvey, Tim Hardaway and a 2002 1st-round pick to the Denver Nuggets for Raef LaFrentz, Avery Johnson, Nick Van Exel and Tariq Abdul-Wahad on February 21, 2002. He then signed as a free agent with the Orlando Magic on July 16, 2003. Howard has managed to average 17.8 points, 7.4 rebounds per game, and 0.3 blocks per game. On March 25, 2002, he scored his 10,000th point.

He married singer Jenine Wardally on July 6, 2002 on Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands. They met at a party thrown by Alonzo Mourning. The couple have a son named Chris.[citation needed]

On June 29, 2004, Howard and Magic teammates Tracy McGrady and Reece Gaines were part of a 7-player trade that sent Houston Rockets starting guards Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley to the Orlando Magic.[2]

On June 14, 2007, Howard was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Mike James and Justin Reed.[3] He was looking forward to playing with Kevin Garnett, but Garnett was traded to the Boston Celtics shortly after.[4] Howard made it clear he was not interested in being part of a youth movement in Minnesota and consequently requested a trade.[4] However, Wolves owner Glen Taylor stated they had no plans for trading him although it remained a possibility.[5]

On October 29, 2007, the Timberwolves waived Howard after reaching a contractual buyout agreement,[6] worth $10 million of roughly $14.25 million which Minnesota would have owed him.[7][8][9] Howard had terms agreed to with the Dallas Mavericks on October 30, 2007, however he was not able to officially sign until the 31st, when he cleared waivers.[10]

[edit] Player profile

Juwan Howard has always been regarded as a consistent hard working player. He peaked in the 1995-1996 NBA season as the leader of the Bullets who were playing without an injured Chris Webber giving him the most shots per season of his career. Howard has been criticized by some for not being a bigger force on the defensive end. His best rebounding year was his rookie year when he averaged 8.4 per game.

During his career, Howard has also been forced into being the first option; a role he was not particularly suited for. He became the Wizards' first option out of default after Chris Webber was traded. His level of play did not measure up to expectations and his status as a big time player was criticized by fans. A similar situation surfaced in two years with the Denver Nuggets as well. Howard was the first option and the Nuggets were among the worst teams in the West.

Career Season Averages


        
Year    Team     G  GS   MPG   FG%   3P%   FT%  OFF  DEF  RPG  APG  SPG  BPG   TO    PF    PPG
94-95   WAS     65  52  36.1  .489  .000  .664  2.8  5.6  8.4  2.5  0.8  0.2  2.55  3.60  17.0
95-96   WAS     81  81  40.7  .489  .308  .749  2.3  5.8  8.1  4.4  0.8  0.5  3.74  3.30  22.1
96-97   WAS     82  82  40.5  .486  .000  .756  2.5  5.5  8.0  3.8  1.1  0.3  3.00  3.20  19.1
97-98   WAS     64  64  40.0  .467  .000  .721  2.5  4.5  7.0  3.3  1.3  0.4  2.89  3.50  18.5
98-99   WAS     36  36  39.7  .474  .000  .753  2.5  5.6  8.1  3.0  1.2  0.4  2.64  3.60  18.9
99-00   WAS     82  82  35.5  .459  .000  .735  1.6  4.1  5.7  3.0  0.8  0.3  2.74  3.60  14.9
00-01   DAL     27  27  36.8  .488  .000  .780  1.9  5.3  7.1  2.6  1.1  0.6  2.70  3.90  17.8
00-01   WAS     54  54  36.7  .474  .000  .770  2.2  4.8  7.0  2.9  0.8  0.4  3.13  3.40  18.2
00-01   TOT     81  81  36.7  .479  .000  .773  2.1  5.0  7.1  2.8  0.9  0.5  2.99  3.60  18.0
01-02   DEN     28  28  34.9  .457  .000  .770  3.0  4.9  7.9  2.7  0.6  0.6  2.64  3.40  17.9
01-02   DAL     53  44  31.3  .462  .000  .754  2.6  4.8  7.4  1.8  0.5  0.6  1.47  3.20  12.9
01-02   TOT     81  72  32.5  .460  .000  .761  2.8  4.8  7.6  2.1  0.6  0.6  1.88  3.30  14.6
02-03   DEN     77  77  35.5  .450  .500  .803  2.4  5.2  7.6  3.0  1.0  0.4  2.45  3.10  18.4
03-04   ORL     81  77  35.5  .453  .000  .809  2.1  4.9  7.0  2.0  0.7  0.3  2.20  3.50  17.0
04-05   HOU     61  47  26.6  .451  .000  .843  2.1  3.6  5.7  1.5  0.5  0.1  1.30  2.30   9.6
05-06   HOU     80  80  31.7  .459  .000  .806  2.1  4.6  6.7  1.4  0.6  0.1  1.66  2.90  11.8
06-07   HOU     80  38  26.5  .465  .000  .824  1.7  4.2  5.9  1.6  0.4  0.1  1.40  2.60   9.7
Career         951 869  35.1  .469  .122  .764  2.2  4.9  7.1  2.6  0.8  0.3  2.42  3.20  16.1
All-Star         1   0  16.0  .200  .000  .000  4.0  2.0  6.0  2.0  1.0  0.0  0.00  3.00   2.0

Stats are correct up to August 2007.[2]

[edit] Other endeavors

Howard had a small role in The West Wing, appearing in the episode The Crackpots and These Women as "Mr. Grant",[11] a former college basketball player currently working on the President's Council on Physical Fitness, where he joins a pick-up basketball game with the fictional President Josiah Bartlet against some of his staffers when the President appeared to be losing. It is later revealed that he won the game for the President.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ http://www.hickoksports.com/history/mbaskallams.shtml#1990accessed March 1, 2007
  2. ^ McGrady-Francis swap official, finally by John Denton, Florida TODAY - posted June 29, 2004; updated June 30, 2004
  3. ^ [1], ESPN.com, accessed 14 June 2007.
  4. ^ a b Wolves get younger with buyout of Howard's contract, ESPN.com
  5. ^ RealGM: Wiretap Archives: Juwan Wants To Be Traded
  6. ^ Timberwolves waive F Howard after reaching buyout - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
  7. ^ Kent Youngblood, Foye's knee worries Wolves, Star Tribune
  8. ^ Cavaliers Eye Help From Howard
  9. ^ HoopsHype - NBA Salaries - Minnesota Timberwolves
  10. ^ Mavs agree to terms with free-agent forward Juwan Howard, updated October 30, 2007
  11. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0745690/fullcredits, IMDB.com

[edit] External links