Dwight Howard named to Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025

2020 NBA champion Dwight Howard is set to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of its Class of 2025, which includes eight players.

Howard, who was surprisingly left off the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team nearly four years ago, was reportedly upset at the time, but his selection to the Hall of Fame more than makes up for it.

“I’m most proud of the fact that I have had longevity, and I have been able to play as long as I have and stay as healthy as I have. I want people to say that one thing about me is that I was always going to put my best foot forward, 100 percent effort. They can say, ‘No matter what it is, he is going to put in everything he has,’” Howard said.

“It’s happening. It’s me being in the Hall of Fame as a player and as an Olympian. It’s just like a double whammy, but in a good way,” he added.

Selected first overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2004 NBA Draft after foregoing college, Howard led the franchise to the 2009 NBA Finals and was arguably the most dominant big man in the league from 2007 to 2010. During that span, he averaged 19.8 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game, while missing only four games in his first six seasons.

Dwight Howard’s @Hoophall resume!

Watch the #25HoopClass Enshrinement Ceremony Saturday, 9/6 at 7:00pm/et on NBA TV. pic.twitter.com/bLaI5Dz7NI

— NBA (@NBA) September 3, 2025

The 39-year-old was the youngest player to average 10 rebounds in a season as a rookie, the youngest to average a double-double, and the only player to start all 82 games directly out of high school. By the age of 28, he had already been named an eight-time All-NBA selection, three-time Kia Defensive Player of the Year, five-time rebounding champion, and two-time blocked-shots leader.

After 2014, injuries affected his play, but Howard won his first and only NBA championship in 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers. Over his career, he also played for the Rockets, Hawks, Hornets, Wizards, and 76ers.

Howard boasts career averages of 15.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game, a feat matched by only 13 other players in NBA history. He ranks 10th on the all-time rebounding list, 13th in blocks, and is one of four players to win three Defensive Player of the Year awards, alongside Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace, and Rudy Gobert. Only Elvin Hayes matched Howard in career averages of points, rebounds, and blocks.

Joining Howard in the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 are Carmelo Anthony, WNBA legends Sue Bird, Maya Moore, and Sylvia Fowles, Chicago Bulls coach and two-time NCAA champion Billy Donovan, Miami Heat managing general partner Micky Arison, and longtime NBA referee Danny Crawford.

The enshrinement weekend begins at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut on September 5, with the induction ceremony scheduled for September 6 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

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