Lakers Champ Dwight Howard Officially Elected to Hall of Fame

Former Los Angeles Lakers All-Star and champion (though not in the same season) Dwight Howard is now a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Sources inform ESPN's Shams Charania that the 6-foot-10 big man is set to be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this year.

Dwight Howard has been elected as a first-ballot member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025, sources tell ESPN. Howard was an 8-time All-Star, 8-time All-NBA, 3-time Defensive Player of Year, a 2020 NBA champion, and won one Olympic gold medal with Team USA. pic.twitter.com/PMcyw6Izew
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 5, 2025

He will join his 2021-22 Lakers teammate Carmelo Anthony among the Class of 2025.

Howard, a low-post behemoth in his prime, was selected by the Orlando Magic with the No. 1 overall pick straight out of high school in the 2004 NBA Draft, which also included future All-Stars Andre Iguodala, Luol Deng, Devin Harris, and Howard teammate Jameer Nelson.

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The charismatic big man followed in the footsteps of Orlando predecessor Shaquille O'Neal in more ways than one, leading the Magic back to the NBA Finals in 2009 as an All-NBA superstar. Like O'Neal, he eventually forced his way out of town and headed West — to the Western Conference, that is — to link up with the Lakers in 2012-13.

While O'Neal left for the Lakers in free agency, Howard, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year with Orlando, agitated to be traded, and eventually got his wish.

Although that Los Angeles squad also fielded future Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Steve Nash, everyone aside from Howard was a bit long in the tooth, and Howard was waylaid by a back injury for much of the year. The team finished with a middling 45-37 record and, after Bryant tore his Achilles tendon late into the regular season, was easily swept out of the first round of the West playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs.

Howard departed to link up with James Harden on the Houston Rockets as a free agent that summer. 2013-14 would mark his final All-Star season, but several of those Houston squads enjoyed deep playoff runs.

Eventually, Howard became something of a journeyman rim-rolling big. He saw himself passed around between the Charlotte Hornets, his hometown Atlanta Hawks, and the Washington Wizards while finishing out a maximum deal he had inked in Houston.

Howard then signed on with the Lakers again, as a free agent, in 2019-20, to serve as a backup big on a deep, defense-first team anchored by All-NBA superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. That season, the eight-time All-Star and eight-time All-NBA honoree would go on to win his first and only title as a critical bench cog with L.A.

🎥 @DwightHoward packs the box score with 12 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals. pic.twitter.com/PAUI0ygtqz
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 15, 2019

The veteran big man wrapped up his career with minimum-salaried stints backing up Joel Embiid on the 2020-21 Philadelphia 76ers and then Davis in a return appearance on the 2021-22 Lakers.

Across three seasons in L.A., Howard averaged 10.7 points on 61.6 percent field goal shooting, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks For his 18-year NBA career, he averaged 15.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 1.3 assists and 0.9 steals a night.

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