Dwight Howard was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia.
Howard is a devout Evangelical Christian. Before he was drafted to the NBA in 2004, Howard was clear about the real reasons he wanted to be a star basketball player:
[I want to] raise the name of God within the league and throughout the world… I want to be able to speak to non-Christians so that I can get them saved or change their lives around.[1]
Now that he is a star basketball player in the NBA, the agenda hasn't changed much. While playing with the Orlando Magic, away from his hometown in Atlanta, Howard got himself re-baptized in The Orlando Summit Church.[2] And still, playing basketball in the National Basketball Association takes second-tier to evangelizing. Really, it's just a means to an end. In 2010, he said:
I know that the NBA is just a way for me to tell people about God—you know that He is real. My purpose in life, my goal for the NBA is to preach God's word…[3]
Howie ain't so political
Where Howard is heavy on religion, he's certainly light on the politics front. There is at least one interesting and mysterious story to tell.
Apparently, Howard was slated to play a basketball all-star fundraiser game for the 2012 Obama campaign. Howard seemed excited about it, even shooting off a tweet in honor of the event.[4]
Then, without warning, Howard's name was no longer on the fundraiser's promotional material and no reason for the roster change was given.[5]
So many questions: Did he get hurt? Did he have a change of conscience? Did one of his Christian friends convince him that Obama was of the Devil? We may never know.
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