Dwight Howard: From High School Phenom to NBA Superstar

Heard this: Orlando Magic superstar is the odds-on favorite to take home the 2011 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.

In his seventh year in the NBA, Howard is showing he was worthy of the No. 1 overall selection in the 2004 NBA Draft. After all, he was a 6'11" manchild out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy (GA). Howard has done it all thus far, and it is seemingly only the tip of the iceberg for the 25-year-old behemoth.

He has averaged a double-double every year he has been in the league, and holds career averages of 18.2 and 12.9 rebounds per game.

It wasn’t always glitz and glamour, though. Howard worked hard as a youngster to get to where he is today (and a fair amount of athletic ability didn’t hurt, either). If you think he dominates NBA players, though, check out his high school video, for cripe's sake.

Just about every ball he touches ends up in a slam dunk contest-esque highlight reel.

If the Magic are going to compete for a title this season, they need Howard to assert himself on the inside and dominate the paint.

In a decade or so, we will likely be talking about Howard as one of the finest big men to ever play the game.

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