Dwight Howard: fastest ever to 3000 reboounds
November 17, 2007 – 12:21 pm Posted by bryan in » Christianity, NBA
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Other than the undefeated run that the Celtics have been on to start the season, one could argue that the most impressive team out of the gate this year has been the Orlando Magic. Ranked #6 at the moment in John Hollinger’s Daily Power Rankings, the Magic won on Friday night to improve their record to 8-2. Only the Celtics at 9-0 have a better record.
The biggest reason for their early season success is the play of Dwight Howard, who in his fourth year in the league has been tearing up Magic opponents to the tune of 21.8 points, 15.0 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game.
On Friday Howard scored 21 points and grabbed 19 rebounds to become the fastest ever player to grab 3000 rebounds in his career, at the age of 21 years and 343 days.
He destroyed the previous mark set by Shaquille O’Neal, who reached the milestone while he was a miserly 23 years old.
Howard, who is an outspoken Christian, is probably most famous for his dunk in the 2007 Slam Dunk contest when he placed a sticker at the top of the backboard with his left hand while dunking with his right. The sticker was a picture of his face with the words “All things through Christ - Phil 4:13″ on it. The dunk was amazing.
Ever since he was in high school, Howard has been focused on being a force in the NBA, both as a dominant big man and as an ambassador for Christ. As this Darren Rovell article from 3.5 years ago states, Howard’s goals going into the NBA were just as much spiritual as they were to become a superstar:
“I want to be able to speak to non-Christians so that I can get them saved or change their lives around,” [Howard said back in early 2004]…”I think I can make as much money or even more than LeBron. But it will be up to God for that to happen. If he wants me to market myself, then I’ll do it. I’m not trying to give glory for myself. I’m trying to give glory for Him.”
Just how much impact his life will have off the court remains to be seen, though he has already set up a foundation and helped out on ABC’s Extreme Makeover in his first few years as a pro. On the court, he’s already off to a great start.
A record-breaking start, actually.
Tags: Dwight Howard
3 Responses to “Dwight Howard: fastest ever to 3000 reboounds”
By Jimmy Eldridge on Nov 17, 2007 | Reply
You gotta love guys like this. I hope he will maintain his christian faith and remain a strong, outspoken advocate for Christ.
By brenton on Dec 6, 2007 | Reply
i’ve had an ongoing thought experiment for some time now - it goes as follows.
“it’s 9 o’clock in the morning. you wake up, but you’re not home anymore. you’re in a very large bed, somewhere in the south, and you realize, first with horror, and then with glee, that you are now dwight howard. you read a note from God that says “as a special present, i’ve given you 6 hours in dwight howard’s body.” what do you do?”
i say you find a basketball court and dunk, over and over and over again. but maybe that’s just me.