APLIdMnCsac/V6smQli7IgI/AAAAAAAACG4/mYW9K3y8oI4vKjQ_IN7JXA6po3VlbNFXwCLcB/s1600/August.png' alt='Nba Live 2005 Latest Roster Patch' title='Nba Live 2005 Latest Roster Patch' />Juwan Howard Wikipedia. Juwan Antonio Howard born February 7, 1. Charlie Pierce on all this ESPN nonsense and newspapering and what not is so fantastic and Im bitter we didnt run it. Go check it out. SI. The Associated Press delivers indepth coverage on todays Big Story including top stories, international, politics, lifestyle, business, entertainment, and more. Warship Gunner 2. American retired professional basketball player who currently serves as an assistant coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association NBA. Howard formerly played for the Heat from 2. A one time All Star and one time All NBApower forward, he began his NBA career as the fifth overall pick in the 1. NBA draft, selected by the Washington Bullets. Before he was drafted, he starred as an All American on the Michigan Wolverines mens basketball team. At Michigan he was part of the Fab Five recruiting class of 1. NCAA Division I Mens Basketball Championship in 1. Howard won his first NBA championship with Miami in the 2. NBA Finals and his second NBA championship in the 2. NBA Finals. Howard was an All American center and an honors student at Chicago Vocational Career Academy. Michigan was able to sign him early over numerous competing offers and then convince others in his recruiting class to join him. The Battle For Middle Earth 1 03 Patch ITALY here. The Fab Five, which included Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, served as regular starters during their freshman and sophomore years for the 1. Wolverines. Howard was the last member of the Fab Five to remain active as a professional basketball player. Although many of the Wolverines accomplishments from 1. University of Michigan basketball scandal, which involved booster payments to players to launder money from illegal gambling, Howards 1. All American season continues to be recognized. Howard has played six and a half seasons 1. Bullets franchise renamed the Wizards in 1. Houston Rockets, two plus seasons for the Heat and shorter stints for several other teams. 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 Star and an All NBA performer, he became the first NBA player to sign a 1. While he continued to be a productive starter, he was never again selected to play in an All Star Game. Towards the end of his contract, he was traded at the NBA trade deadline twice to make salary cap room. He was most recently a regular starter during the 2. NBA season. In 2. Heat and entered his 1. NBA season, during which he reached the playoffs for the sixth time and made his first career NBA Finals appearance. He remained with the Heat the following season and won his first NBA championship during the 2. NBA Finals. He returned to the Heat for part of the following season, and won a second championship. Howard has developed a reputation as a humanitarian for his civic commitment. Early lifeeditHowards grandmother, Jannie Mae Howard, was the daughter of sharecroppers from Belzoni, Mississippi. She had four daughters by her 1. Howards mother Helena. Helena was an employee at a Chicago restaurant when she became pregnant with Juwan. Howards father, Leroy Watson, had just returned from the Army to a phone company job in Chicago. The two married quickly once they realized Helena was pregnant. For Howards first week of life, his high school junior mother kept him in a drawer at Jannie Maes house. Helena, who was 1. Jannie Mae adopted him. His biological father, Leroy Watson, Jr., wanted to name him Leroy Watson, III, but his grandmother rejected the suggestion, insisting on Juwan Antonio Howard. Although his mother visited on occasion as he was growing up, his grandmother raised him,1 along with two cousins. Howard has no siblings and is not close to his biological parents 5 his grandmother was the primary influence in his life. He moved with her to several low income Chicago South Side projects she kept him out of trouble and away from gangs as he was growing up. One of their residences was a three bedroom apartment on 6. Street on the South Side of Chicago. As he blossomed under his grandmothers influence and discipline, he became her pride and joy. High schooleditHoward went to Chicago Vocational Career Academy, where he went on to play three seasons of varsity basketball. Vocational had an unheated gym and no locker rooms, which required that the team dress for games in a history classroom. Nonetheless, Howard went on to be named a 1. All American basketball player by Parade magazine and won Mc. Donalds All American honors. He was also chosen for the National Honor Society and served as Vocationals homecoming king. During recruiting visits by college coaches such as Illinois Lou Henson, De. Pauls Joey Meyer and Michigans Steve Fisher, Jannie Mae Howard did most of the questioning. Sophomore yeareditAt the start of his sophomore year in 1. Howard was 1. 5 years old and already expected to be a coveted blue chip recruit in 1. He was regarded as one of the best sophomore basketball players in the Chicago metropolitan area. He scored 2. 6 points in a Chicago Public High School League quarterfinal loss against a Deon Thomas led Simeon Career Academy team. Vocational ended the year with a 2. Howard was a second team selection and the only sophomore named to the league coaches 2. All Public League team. The summer after his sophomore year, the 6 foot 8 inch 2. Nike Academic Betterment and Career Development ABCD camp, which was held annually in Princeton, New Jersey, during the late 1. There he was matched against the 7 foot 4 inch 2. Shawn Bradley. At this camp, even though the much taller Bradley blocked his shots several times, Howard established himself as one of the best junior year big men in the country. He was involved in controversy for receiving a second pair of sneakers at the camp because he was suspected of stealing them. Howard denied theft, but he was sent home on the last day of the six day camp. Howard also participated in the Bill Cronauer camp in Rensselaer, Indiana, which more than 1. According to the Chicago Sun Times, he was ranked as one of the top 1. Howard attended other camps that summer his goal was to overcome Thomas, who was the reigning Chicago Tribune basketball player of the year,1. By the time he ended his college career in 1. Howard was drafted a full round ahead of Thomas. Junior yeareditAs Howard entered his junior year, some sources listed him as the best junior basketball player in Illinois,2. Tom Kleinschmidt ahead of him. Taylor Bell of the Chicago Sun Times noted that Howard was leaning toward playing either for De. Paul or for Illinois. Howard was interested in Illinois because Thomas, whom Howard admired, had become a member of the 1. Fighting Illini team. By the end of his junior year, league coaches named him to the first team All Chicago Public School League. He was selected to the Chicago Sun Times All Area team as well as the Class AA All State team and established himself as the top Chicago area junior ahead of Kleinschmidt. Howard had a sub par performance against King High School in the Chicago Public School League semifinals,2. Chicago Tribune named him to its All State second team. Vocational finished the year 2. Howard was also an honors student. After his junior year, he was one of 1. Illinois players invited back to the Nike All American Camp at Princeton. Others invited included Kleinschmidt, Donnie Boyce, William Gates, Billy Taylor, Rashard Griffith and Howard Nathan.