|
NBA
Player |
Juwan Howard.....He came, He saw.....and He Touched Lives
 |
|
After
his draft in 1994 |
 |
|
NBA Star,
Juwan Howard with his no.1 FAN during teh spriteSLAM in Kenya!!!! |
 |
|
truly
stressing the SLAM on the spriteSLAM event |
NBA
Star, Juwan Howard was in Kenya, and Uganda in August 2009, as the
main guest for the 2009 SpriteSLAM, which saw five players get selected
to represent Kenya in the Basketball Without Boarder in South Africa.
Evidence of his presence is still visible in basketball courts all
around the country...courtesy of the many sprite branded basketball
dished out, or the refurbished basketball courts at the Railways
Club.
His presence in the country was a motivation to upcoming basketball
players, his message of education and responsibility key to the
maturing youth and of course, the numerous basketball and refurbished
courts are already of immense value to teams and individual players.
However,
less than a year down and the key guest player at the event has
almost been forgotten, or few really know much about him.
+
Bio Data
Juwan Antonio Howard, born February 7, 1973 in Chicago, Illinois,
is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail
Blazers of the NBA. He is a former All-Star and All-NBA power forward
and was a member of the University of Michigan Wolverines' "Fab
Five" (along with Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and
Ray Jackson) that reached the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Men's Division
I Basketball Championship games as both freshmen and sophomores.
Although most Michigan Wolverines men's basketball records from
1992–1998 have been forfeited due to NCAA sanctions, Howard's
1993–94 All-American season was not.
+
High School & College
Howard had a successful career at Chicago Vocational Career Academy
and can be seen playing in the high school basketball documentary
Hoop Dreams. He left Michigan after his junior year, and was taken
by the Washington Bullets fifth overall in the 1994 NBA Draft. Although
the Fab Five final four appearances have been forfeited, he was
not among the players called before the grand jury (which included
Robert Traylor, Webber, Rose, Maurice Taylor, and Louis Bullock)in
the University of Michigan basketball scandal and was not found
to have received large amounts of money.
+
Professional career
He
became the first NBA athlete who entered the draft early and still
graduated along with his class.[6] When Chris Webber, his teammate
and friend from college, joined Washington that same season, many
thought that the "Fab Five" would bode for a bright future
for the Washington franchise. Together with Gheorghe Muresan, a
7 feet 7 inch (231 centimetres) Romanian center, Calbert Cheaney,
a swingman from Indiana University, veteran point guards Mark Price
and Robert Pack as well as the promising rookie Rasheed Wallace,
many saw the Bullets as a secure playoff lock. But Webber, Price,
and Pack missed almost the entire 1995–96 season due to injuries.
That season, the Bullets managed to pull off 39 victories, missing
the playoffs. He became just the second player in Washington franchise
history, after Bernard King, to post back-to-back 40-point games
(against Boston on July 17, 1996 with 40, and at Toronto on July
19, 1996 with 42). Averaging 22.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists,
he was named to the All-Star team for the only time in his career.
Howard became a free agent after that season. Howard decided to
sign a $101 million contract with the Miami Heat on July 15, 1996.
Yet the contract was disallowed by the NBA, because it was not in
accordance with the existing salary cap rules. Howard then re-signed
with the Bullets on August 5. He became the first player in NBA
history to sign a contract worth over $100 million, his seven-year
contract being worth $105 million. He never reached the level of
All-Star status again.
After Michael Jordan joined the re-named Washington Wizards, he
traded Howard, together with Obinna Ekezie and Calvin Booth to the
Dallas Mavericks for Christian Laettner, Loy Vaught, Etan Thomas,
Hubert Davis, Courtney Alexander and cash on February 22, 2001.
The Mavs traded him with Donnell Harvey, Tim Hardaway and a 2002
1st-round pick to the Denver Nuggets for Raef LaFrentz, Avery Johnson,
Nick Van Exel and Tariq Abdul-Wahad on February 21, 2002. He then
signed as a free agent with the Orlando Magic on July 16, 2003.
Howard managed to average 17.8 points, 7.4 rebounds per game, and
0.3 blocks per game.
+
On March 25, 2002, he scored his 10,000th point.
+
On June 29, 2004, Howard and Magic teammates Tracy McGrady and Reece
Gaines were part of a 7-player trade that sent Houston Rockets starting
guards Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley to the Orlando Magic.
+
On June 14, 2007, Howard was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves
for Mike James and Justin Reed.[8] He was looking forward to playing
with Kevin Garnett, but Garnett was traded to the Boston Celtics
shortly after.[9] Howard made it clear he was not interested in
being part of a youth movement in Minnesota and consequently requested
a trade.[9] However, Wolves owner Glen Taylor stated they had no
plans for trading him although it remained a possibility.
+
On October 29, 2007, the Timberwolves waived Howard after reaching
a contractual buyout agreement,[11] worth $10 million of roughly
$14.25 million which Minnesota would have owed him.[12][13][14]
Howard had terms agreed to with the Dallas Mavericks on October
30, 2007; however he was not able to officially sign until the 31st,
when he cleared waivers.
+
In 2008, Howard rejoined the Denver Nuggets, but was later released
because of the Allen Iverson trade. On December 12, 2008, he was
signed by the Charlotte Bobcats.
+
On September 17, 2009, Juwan Howard signed a one-year deal with
the Portland Trail Blazers.
+
Player profile
Juwan Howard has always been regarded as a consistent hard working
player.[who?] He peaked in the 1995–1996 NBA season as the
leader of the Bullets who were playing without an injured Chris
Webber, giving him the most shots per season of his career. Howard
has been criticized by some[who?] for not being a bigger force on
the defensive end. His best rebounding year was his rookie year
when he averaged 8.4 per game. During
his career, Howard has also been forced into being the first option;
a role he was not particularly suited for. He became the Wizards'
first option out of default after Chris Webber was traded. His level
of play did not measure up to expectations and his status as a big
time player was criticized by fans. A similar situation surfaced
in two years with the Denver Nuggets as well. Howard was the first
option and the Nuggets were among the worst teams in the West.
+
Other endeavors
Howard had a small role in The West Wing, appearing in the episode
"The Crackpots and These Women" as Mr. Grant,[19] a former
college basketball player currently working on the President's Council
on Physical Fitness, where he joins a pick-up basketball game with
the fictional President Josiah Bartlet against some of his staffers
when the President appeared to be losing. It is later revealed that
he won the game for the President.
+
Kenyan tour - spriteSLAM
The three-week Sprite Slam
Basketball Talent Search tournament ended after intensive two-day
finals at the Railways Club, Nairobi. The selection was overseen
by National Basketball Association (NBA) star, Juwan Antonio Howard.
Five players and alternate two were picked at the weekend to attend
the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) camp in South Africa held on
the 2nd -5th September, 2009. Bruce
Ndikumana (Laiser Hill), Tyler Okari (Friends Kamusinga), Joseph
Ouma (Shimo-la-Tewa), James Mathiang (Nairobi International) and
Samuel Odera (Maseno) were selected from a pool of 35 players drawn
from across the country. The five joined 100 other players selected
from, among others, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire,
Mali, Cameroon and Angola.
Howard
noted he was impressed with the selected players as well as those
that didn’t make it. "Kenya is definitely rich in talent.
I had an opportunity to see the kids take on each other and I think
they can go head to head with anyone in the world. Sprite Slam is
definitely raising their game," he said.
+
Kenyan tour - Visit to Childrens Home
On
August 13, Juwan Howard, NBA Basketball star from the Charlotte
Bobcats paid a visit to Mukuru Slums. Juwan is a former ‘All
Star’ and was in Kenya for the Basketball without Borders
camp selection to be held in South Africa. This initiative is undertaken
by Sprite’s SLAM campaign alongside with Nike. Being facilitated
by Coca-Cola, Juwan came to shoot baskets and interact with the
youth in Mukuru. They
shot baskets on the basketball court refurbished by Coca-Cola East
and Central Africa Office in Nairobi. Fifty basketballs were left
behind for the youth so they can be having their own basketball
games at the site. This Center of HOPE in Mukuru is a prototype
of youth friendly service provision in Kenya. Not only is there
space for indoor and outdoor sports, there is provision for counseling
and testing for HIV, a healthcare clinic, a computer center and
training in beauty and hair dressing.
Juwan
was accompanied by his beautiful wife Jenine. Dressed in yellow
she brought sunshine to Mukuru Kwa Ruben. Juwan and his wife run
the Juwan Howard Foundation which embraces inner city children living
with little hope. Their
desire is to embrace and encourage inner city youth to dream and
strive for a brighter future. This dream has now been extended to
young people in Mukuru Slums of Nairobi. Thank you Juwan, Jenine,
and Coca-Cola for letting us be part of the inspiration.
Links
+
More on 2009 spriteSLAM Kenya
+
Juwan Howard Dunks on Chris Kaman - January 2010
Source:alsaBasketball/
agencies
Photos: alsaINTERACTIVEMEDIA
|
