Juwan Howard

Who is Juwan Howard?

Juwan Antonio Howard is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. The Heat were Howard's eighth NBA team. A one-time All-Star and one-time All-NBA power forward, he began his NBA career as the fifth overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft, selected by the Washington Bullets. Before he was drafted, he starred as an All-American on the Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team. At Michigan he was part of the Fab Five recruiting class of 1991 that reached the finals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Division I Basketball Championship in 1992 and 1993. Howard won his first NBA championship with Miami in the 2012 NBA Finals and his second NBA championship in the 2013 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 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 1991–92 and 1992–93 Wolverines. Howard is the last member of the Fab Five who remains active as a professional basketball player. Although many of the Wolverines' accomplishments from 1992 to 1998 were forfeited due to the University of Michigan basketball scandal, which involved booster payments to players to launder money from illegal gambling, Howard's 1993–94 All-American season continues to be recognized.