Dwight Howard, born December 8, 1985, in Atlanta, Georgia, was the first overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft. Having won the Naismith Award as the top high school player in the nation, he became one of the top basketball prospects in the country. Going into the draft, the Orlando Magic wrestled with the decision of whether to select Howard - a young giant coming out of high school - or Emeka Okafor, who was coming off of an NCAA Championship with the University of Connecticut. Okafor was the safe pick, already a good defensive player with the potential to become a good NBA center, but Howard's potential was through the roof and the Magic were coming off of one of their worst seasons since the team's inception. When draft day came, they decided to take the risk of the unknown quantity in Howard. The Magic would not regret the decision they made.

Howard made his professional debut on November 3, 2004, against the Milwaukee Bucks. He started the game and played 38 minutes, scoring 12 points, and grabbing ten rebounds to record a double-double in his first NBA game. Howard proceeded to grab at least ten rebounds in each of his first nine professional games and on December 1, 2004, he became the youngest player to ever record 20 rebounds in a game. The transition period that had plagued most other high school to pros players was proving to be relatively smooth for Howard. He would go on to play and start all 82 games of the season, averaging 12 points, ten rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game. Howard became the youngest player in NBA history to average a double-double, finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting, and took home All-Rookie First Team honors.

Making steady progress, Howard increased his production in his sophomore season. While scoring 15.8 points per game, he finished sixth in the league in field goal percentage at 53.1 and second in the league in rebounding, trailing only the player he has tried to model his game after - Kevin Garnett. Come the 2006-07 NBA season, Howard had firmly established himself as one of the top players in the league. His spectacular athletic ability made him a seemingly never ending highlight reel. During Orlando's chase for the playoffs, Howard executed perhaps the most spectacular play of the 2006-07 season: a last-second alley-oop dunk on a long inbound pass from teammate Hedo Turkoglu that gave the Magic a buzzer-beating win against the eventual NBA Champions, the San Antonio Spurs. The play was possibly the most spectacular one of the year in the entire league. The NBA took notice, inviting him to participate in the All-Star Slam Dunk competition.

At season's end, Howard had led the Magic to their first playoff appearance since 2003, although their appearance was brief, being knocked out in just four games against the Detroit Pistons. Howard made his first All-Star team and at season's end, he found himself on the All-NBA Third Team. At just 21 years of age, Howard's game had already evolved to the point that he could be counted among the NBA's elite. Howard continued to make splashes in the offseason. The Magic gave him a five year contract extension. Earning an invitation to play for Team USA in the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, Howard was on the team that took the gold by finishing with a 7-0 record, earning the USA Basketball team a spot in the 2008 Olympic Games.

Statistics gathered from NBA.com

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