Juwan Howard

Juwan Howard

Juwan Antonio Howard (born February 7, 1973) is an American professional basketball player who most recently played for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Heat were Howard's eighth different NBA team. He was drafted fifth overall in the 1994 NBA Draft by the Washington Bullets. A former All-Star and All-NBA power forward, he also starred as an All-American on the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team as part of the Fab Five recruiting class of 1991 (along with Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson) and, earlier, at Chicago Vocational Career Academy where he was an All-American center as well as an honors student. He won his first NBA championship with Miami in the 2012 NBA Finals.

The Fab Five reached the finals of the 1992 and 1993 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's Division I Basketball Championship while starting a combined 304 of a possible 350 games during their collective freshman and sophomore years. Howard is the last member of the Fab Five who remains active as a professional basketball player. Despite the sanctions and forfeited accomplishments from 1992 to 1998 by the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball due to the University of Michigan basketball scandal, Howard's 1993–94 All-American season continues to be recognized.

Howard played six-and-a-half seasons (1994–2001) for the Bullets franchise (renamed the Wizards in 1997) and three full seasons (2004–2007) for the Houston Rockets but no more than two seasons for any other team. During his rookie year with the Bullets, he became the first player to graduate on time with his class after leaving college early to play in the NBA. After one season as an All-Rookie player and a second as an All-NBA performer, he became the first NBA player to sign a $100 million contract. Although he continued to be a productive starter, he never again performed at an All-Star level. Towards the end of his contract, he was traded at the NBA trade deadline twice to make salary cap room. During his first five seasons in the NBA, he averaged 19.3 points per game, but has only averaged 17 points per game in three of his seasons since. He was most recently a starter during the 2005–06 NBA season. In 2010, he signed with the Miami Heat and entered his 17th NBA season, during which he reached the playoffs for the sixth time and made his first career NBA Finals appearance. Howard has developed a reputation as a humanitarian for his civic commitment.