Josh Howard

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This article is about the basketball player. For the comic book artist and writer, see Josh Howard (artist).
Josh Howard
Position Small forward
Height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg/15 st)
League NBA
Team Dallas Mavericks
Jersey #5
Born April 28, 1980 (1980-04-28) (age 28)
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Nationality American
High school Glenn (Winston-Salem),
Hargrave Military Academy (Virginia)
College Wake Forest
Draft 29th overall, 2003
Dallas Mavericks
Pro career 2003–present
Awards ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year (2003)
NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2004)
NBA All-Star (2007)
Official profile Info Page

Joshua Jay Howard (born April 28, 1980) is an American professional basketball player in the aNBA. At 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) and 210 lb (95 kg/15 st), he starts at small forward for the Dallas Mavericks.[1] His nickname is "J-Ho".[2].

Howard attended Glenn High School in Winston Salem, where he was a First-Team All-State selection in his senior year, when he averaged six blocks per game while shooting 70%. He also averaged a double-double at Glenn during his junior and senior years, during which time he also received the Frank Spencer Award (for the top player in Northwest North Carolina) twice.[3] During his senior year at Glenn High School, Howard was cuffed outside of a BP gas station the night before his SAT examination. Howard had been loitering on the premises with some of his friends, and undercover cops believing the teenagers had been selling drugs detained them.[4]

In order to get into Wake Forest, Howard needed an SAT score of at least 950. Howard did not get a 950, saying his score was "somewhere in the 500s". [4] He therefore spent a year at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia, where he averaged a double-double, with 19.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. Howard led Hargrave to a 27-3 record, shooting well on the floor with 56%. He also averaged 44% from behind the three-point line and 85% from the free throw line.[3] Howard participated in the ACC-SEC game between new signings from the two conferences. Howard scored 14 points in 15 minutes to help lift the ACC team to a 145-115 win over the SEC. On April 25, 2008 Howard admitted to smoking marijuana during the offseason on ESPN-FM 103.3, hurting his reputation with the Mavericks. Then-head coach Avery Johnson said Howard's incident was "what I call poor timing and poor judgment",[3]

Contents

[edit] Early life and high school career

Howard was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.[2] His father walked out on him and his family at birth, and Howard was raised by his grandmother.[4] He was also bowlegged and had to have his legs broken below the kneecap twice (in order to straighten them) before he turned two years old.[4]

[edit] NCAA career

After a stellar career at Robert B. Glenn High School in Kernersville, North Carolina and a year of prep school at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia, Howard chose to sign with Wake Forest University in 1999 over many other colleges due to the proximity of the campus to his family and friends.[3] He majored in sociology and minored in international studies.[3] During his first year, Howard played in all thirty-six games, starting in all but two. He led the team with 44 steals and ranked fourth on the team with 9.1 points per game. His season high came in a game against Duke during an ACC tournament. Howard scored 19 points, going 7-for-10 from the field and 2-for-2 from behind the three-point line.[3]

During his sophomore season Howard was selected to second-team All-ACC. He missed a few games because of the flu, playing in 29 games and starting 28. He led the team in scoring that year with 13.6 points per game.[3] Howard earned third-team All-ACC and second team NABC All-District while trailing Darius Songaila in team scoring with 13.9 points per game during his junior season.[3]

Deciding not to forego his senior year at Wake Forest University, Howard became the first member of his family to graduate from college.[5] He was the unanimous selection as the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) player of the year in 2003 (first since David Thompson in 1975[2]) and led Wake Forest to its first outright regular season league championship in 41 years.[2] He is the second (after Shane Battier) ACC player to amass 1000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, 200 steals, 100 blocks, and 100 three-pointers.[6] Howard was named the national player of the year by FOX, College Insider and Basketball Digest. He was also a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award and the James Naismith Award in 2003.[2] In his senior season, Howard averaged 19.5 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, and 1.5 bpg,[2] and won multiple awards, including ACC Player of the Year, All ACC First Team, ACC All-Defensive Team, and AP First Team All-America.[2] Coming into the league, Howard was projected as a mid to late 1st round pick in the 2003 NBA Draft because of his apparent lack of upside.[7]

Howard was drafted with the 29th selection in the first round by the Dallas Mavericks. He started his career coming off the bench until he caught a break in 2004. Howard won his spot in the lineup after Marquis Daniels became injured. Consistent performances by Howard have led him to becoming an integral part of the Mavericks, leading them in several games.[8] Howard's defensive ability has led him to feature on a defensive team in college, and a call up to the United States national basketball team.[2][9] Howard's performances also helped him become an All-Star in 2007.[10]

[edit] NBA career

[edit] 2003-04

Mavericks secure their first win in Los Angeles in over 10 years.[2] Howard was selected to the 2003 NBA All-Rookie Second team.[11] Howard's rookie season saw him injured for a total of 13 games.[2]

[edit] 2004-05

In his second season, Howard continued coming off the bench and tasked to do "mop-up minutes"[12] until a nagging injury to Marquis Daniels gave Howard a spot at small forward in the starting lineup. Howard averaged 12.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.53 steals in 32 minutes of play for the season.[2]

[edit] 2005-06

In the 2005-06 season, Howard averaged a career-high in scoring (15.6 points) and three-point field goal percentage (.429), in addition to tallying 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. He was limited to 59 games due to injury.[2] In the 2006 NBA playoffs, Howard was vital to the Mavs' run to the Finals to the point where the team was 23-0 when Howard scored more than 20 points a game.[13] In game 5 of the 2006 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat, it was asserted by referees that Howard called for a timeout during Dwyane Wade's free throw attempts, which only allowed Dallas to inbound the ball at full court instead of setting up for a play at half court. Howard asserted that in fact no timeout was called and that even referee Joey Crawford agreed with him.[14] After Dwyane Wade hit his second foul shot to put the Miami Heat up by one point, Dallas was unable to advance the ball to halfcourt for an attempt at a game-winning shot.[15]

[edit] 2006-07

Early in 2006, Team USA director Jerry Colangelo invited Howard to serve as one of Team USA's possible defensive specialists (the other two being Shane Battier of the Memphis Grizzlies and Bruce Bowen of the San Antonio Spurs) in the 2008 Summer Olympics.[9] Howard rejected the offer, instead going back to run his annual youth camp in his hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.[4]

During the 2006-07 season, Howard missed 2 games (Seattle at Dallas,[16] and Dallas at Memphis[17]). His 18.9 points per game combined with 6.8 rebounds a game helped lead the Dallas Mavericks to a season-best 67-15 record. Howard's performance, however, went unnoticed by fans and coaches as he was left out of All-Star weekend at first. After injuries to Yao Ming and Carlos Boozer, Howard was offered the extra spot.[4] Hall of Famer Magic Johnson commented on Howard's omission at first, saying "I've got a problem with it, I really do". Johnson also went on to say "Josh Howard should be an All-Star. Period."[4]

[edit] 2007-2008

On December 8, 2007, Howard scored a career high 47 points against the Utah Jazz. Even though averaging over 20 points a game before the All-Star game, Howard was not voted onto the Western All-Star roster.

On April 25, 2008 before game 3 of his team's matchup with New Orleans in the playoffs, Howard publicly admitted to using marijuana during the NBA offseason. Howard said marijuana use is not uncommon among NBA players. Though he did not mention names, Howard said: "I think that everybody in the media world and in the sports world knows that NBA players do smoke marijuana."[18]

[edit] Player profile

Now in his fourth year in the league, Josh Howard is considered as one of the league's finest players. He was acknowledged by Phil Jackson after a 29-point performance by Howard that helped the Mavericks defeat the Lakers.[19] Avery Johnson, coach of the Mavs has said of Howard, "He's been a constant in terms of that energy", "He plays hard, and he plays smart."[19] Howard is considered so valuable to the team that owner Mark Cuban once said, in response to the Ron Artest sweepstakes, that it would take both Jermaine O'Neal and Artest to pry him off the Mavs.[20] Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said of Howard: "I think he's a (heck) of a player. I like his game a lot. He provides for his team what they ask him to do. He comes in and does it extremely well. He's consistent, too. I think he's a (heck) of a player."[21] Over the last two seasons the Mavs are 37-2 when Howard scores 20 or more points.[4]

[edit] Statistics

Last updated April 17, 2008[22]

SEASON TEAM GP GS MPG RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2003-04 DAL 67 29 23.7 5.5 1.4 1.0 0.8 8.6
2004-05 DAL 76 76 32.2 6.4 1.4 1.5 0.6 12.6
2005-06 DAL 59 58 32.5 6.3 1.9 1.2 0.4 15.6
2006-07 DAL 70 69 35.1 6.8 1.8 1.2 0.8 18.9
2007-08 DAL 75 75 36.2 7.1 2.2 0.8 0.4 19.9

[edit] Awards/achievements

  • ACC Player of the Year: 2003[2]
  • All ACC First Team: 2003[2]
  • ACC All-Defensive Team: 2003[2]
  • AP First Team All-America: 2003[2]
  • NBA All-Rookie Second Team: 2004[11]
  • NBA All-Star: 2007[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ ESPN - Josh Howard Stats, News, Photos - Dallas Mavericks - NBA Basketball
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p NBA.com: Josh Howard. NBA.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Josh Howard's profile at Wake Forest basketball. Wake Forest University (2007). Retrieved on 2007-03-25.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Witt, Richie (2007-02-15). I Love Josh Howard. Dallas Observer. Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
  5. ^ Josh Howard Will be Heard
  6. ^ Prospect Profile: Josh Howard. NBA.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  7. ^ 2003 NBA Prospects. Sports Phenoms (2003-03-03). Retrieved on 2007-03-24.
  8. ^ Sefko, Eddie (2007-04-05). Howard's NBA stature still growing. Dallas Morning News. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
  9. ^ a b Sheridan, Chris (2006-03-05). Bryant, James, Wade among those on U.S. roster. ESPN. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  10. ^ a b McMahon, Tim (2007-02-09). Mavs' Howard added to All-Star team. Dallas Morning News. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  11. ^ a b HoopsHype.com Players: Josh Howard. HoopsHype.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  12. ^ Retooled roster pushes Howard to Mavs' bench. Wayback Machine (2004-10-04). Retrieved on 2004-10-12.
  13. ^ Haller, Doug (2006-05-30). Mavs' magic number: 23-0 if Howard scores 20. The Arizona Republic. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.
  14. ^ Howard: On the record. Dallas Morning News (2006-08-20). Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  15. ^ Sheridan, Chris (2006-06-18). Wade's heroics have Heat one victory from NBA title. ESPN. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  16. ^ AP (2007-01-30). Mavs get big effort from Croshere to take care of Sonics. ESPN. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  17. ^ AP (2007-01-31). Nowitzki uses late run to push Mavericks past Grizzlies. ESPN. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  18. ^ Stein, Marc (2008-04-25). Cuban: Mavs will deal with Howard's admission of drug use internally. ESPN.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
  19. ^ a b MacMahon, Tim (2007-01-19). Check, please: Howard stars in Mavs' win. Dallas Morning News. Retrieved on 2007-03-25.
  20. ^ Stein, Mark (2006-01-12). SPECIAL WEEKEND EDITION Hollywood needs more drama. ESPN. Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  21. ^ Streaking Mavericks Shut Down Lakers. NBA (2006-02-07). Retrieved on 2007-02-18.
  22. ^ Josh Howard #5 SF career stats by espn.go.com. ESPN.com (2007). Retrieved on 2008-04-17.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Juan Dixon		 Atlantic Coast Conference
Men's Basketball
Player of the Year
2003		 Succeeded by
Julius Hodge
v • d • e
Dallas Mavericks current roster

2 Kidd | 5 Jo. Howard | 6 Jones | 10 Lue | 11 Barea | 20 Magloire | 21 Wright | 25 Dampier | 30 Allen | 31 Terry | 32 Bass | 40 George | 41 Nowitzki | 42 Stackhouse | 55 Ju. Howard | Coach Carlisle
v • d • e
2003 NBA Draft
Draft Templates
83 • 84 • 85 • 86 • 87 • 88 • 89 • 90 • 91 • 92 • 93 • 94 • 95 • 96 • 97 • 98 • 99 • 00 • 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 • 07 • 08


Persondata
NAME Howard, Josh
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Howard, Joshua Jay
SHORT DESCRIPTION National Basketball Association player.
DATE OF BIRTH April 28, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH Winston-Salem, North Carolina
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH