In this era of skyrocketing salary space, 100 million contracts are everywhere, but in the 90s, people did not expect that there would be a billion yuan contract in the NBA, and at that time, tens of millions of contracts were very large contracts. And in the summer of '96, a player became a free agent, the two teams in order to fight for him, began to sit on the ground to shout the price, from the tens of millions of contracts to the hundred million yuan contract, in the end, this billion yuan contract was really signed, but the player who signed this contract is not Jordan, Olajuwon, the league's popular superstar, but a newcomer, he is called "universal forward", by the "god operator" Riley even in violation of the law to sign, this player is Juwan Howard.
"Universal Striker" with excellent back-playing ability
Howard is 2.06 meters tall and 110 kilograms, which is a very standard number four position, but Howard can not only play the number four position, he will get a lot, he can do a lot. Howard's best is back singles, Howard's back singles is very standard, solid footsteps, flexible, turning fast, stuck position can make the manual can not be played, can only raise their arms to interfere, in the back of the singles this piece, Howard's action is worth many people to learn.
Howard is a standard number four position, but he is never the kind of number four position that can only carry the back, there is no way to do it on one side, he can also shoot, in the middle distance, Howard's basket is very accurate, in the later part of his career, howard lost a lot of athletic ability, he is relying on a one-handed shot, to score on the court, on the shooting ability, Howard is also top-notch in the fourth position.
Howard mainly plays the fourth position, but he can be like the third position, skillfully dribbling, and then after dribbling the ball to shoot, that is to say, Howard can also play like a small forward, and when playing small forwards, Howard's footsteps do not suffer losses at the same time, but also can take advantage of the back and height pool, from this point of view, Howard is also a third position, and this is Howard's standout, he can play four, can also play three, and when he has to, Howard can also top the 5 position, That is to say, Howard can top three positions, which in the current small-ball era, Howard has no problem getting the top salary, and at that time, Howard was called "all-round forward".
There is another reason Howard is called an "all-round forward", that is, he is capable of all-rounders. In addition to the back and the frame, with the ability to shoot, Howard can also organize, to be an organizational forward, organizational forward is arguably the most scarce on the basketball court, in today's league, the organization of forwards is no more than 5 people.
Howard's skills are excellent, and his ball quotient is very high, judging the situation on the court correctly, and off the court, Howard is very leadership and can unite his teammates. Howard has many advantages, but there are also disadvantages, the disadvantage is that the defensive ability is average, can not be both offensive and defensive, facing the top attackers, he has nothing to do. Able to play three positions, can back and face the frame and organize, Howard is very unique in the 90s, when he handed over an excellent performance, the NBA staged a robbery drama, made the NBA's first billion yuan contract.
Brilliant before bland, Howard's 19-year career
Howard was pulled to the University of Michigan by the head coach of the University of Michigan after graduating from high school, where Howard and Weber, Jaylen Rose, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson formed the famous "Michigan Five Tigers". Media interviews put Howard's personal talent on full display in front of every team, and in '94, Howard was picked by the Bullets with the No. 5 pick.
In the rookie season, the Bullets were still very conservative in putting Howard on the bench at the beginning, but after more than a dozen games, the Bullets put Howard in the starting lineup. Entering the second game of the start, Howard cut 22 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block, the performance was very wonderful, but in terms of subsequent performance, this is just a small test, in the season, Howard cut 20+ in a row, including two games 30+, as the season deepened, Howard is playing more and more wonderful, and cutting 20 points in a row is a relaxed and pleasant thing.
At the end of the rookie season, Howard averaged 17 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, shooting 48.9% from the field, and in the NBA, Howard cut points as simple as chopping melons and chopping vegetables. Howard is not only based in the NBA, but also famous in the United States, and everyone who watches the ball knows Howard, and Howard is more beautiful than when he was in college. In the 95-96 season, another star of the Bullets, Webb, was injured, and as soon as Weber was injured, he left a lot of ball rights, Howard digested a part of the ball, and was very responsible, carrying the team, in Weber's absence, everyone felt that the Bullets were finished, played his career masterpiece.
Against the 76ers, Howard contributed 32 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals, leading the Bullets to a 2-point narrow victory over the opponent, against the Celtics, Howard contributed 40 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block, against the Raptors, Howard single-handedly fought the Raptors, in the case of the Raptors, and the teammates are very iron, Howard left the suspense of the game to the end, although in the end it was still two points to lose the Raptors, but Howard's performance is worth people thumbs up, he cut 42 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Throughout the season, Howard cut 40+ twice, at least 30+9 in 5 games, and throughout the season, Howard cut 22.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, shooting 48.9%, second-year players, playing such a performance, in which era is a slap, and, Howard rookie season is playing the fourth position, the second season, Howard played the third position, but also averaged 22+8 per game, played so well in both positions, Howard was called by Sports Illustrated" " Universal Striker".
In terms of public opinion, Howard is the most famous and high-profile young player, while in the free market, Howard is the most sought-after young player. Paclelli is known as the "God Operator", his vision of people is very unique, the understanding of basketball is also very deep, his favorite is the full range of players, he is very fond of Howard, he is bound to sign Howard. What is the method? Quite simply, take the money and smash it.
Riley gave Howard a 7-year, $98 million contract, and what were the league's top interior players worth that year? Olajuwon 5.3 million a year, Malone 3.67 million a year, Barkley 4.76 million a year, and howard if he signs this contract, 14 million a year, in the face of such a big temptation, Howard of course can not resist and there is no need to resist, the player plays to make money, Howard signed this contract, became the Heat's account general.
Riley took a fancy to Howard, but the bullet team did not want to let Howard go, the bullet directly sued the Heat, saying that there was a problem with the contract, Riley violated, the alliance took the bullet team's complaint, launched an investigation, the final result is Riley violated, the contract is invalid, for Riley, the duck in hand just flew. The Contract between the Heat and Howard was scrapped, and Bullet gave Howard a bigger contract, bigger than the Heat's, 7 years and 105 million.
Before that, 105 million could pack several superstars, but now only one player can be signed, and the skyrocketing salary space has made the players sweet, and Howard is very happy to sign this contract, becoming the first player in the NBA to sign a contract of 100 million yuan. The bullet spent a lot of money to leave Howard behind, but the world is unpredictable, Howard's performance did not continue to improve, but steadily stopped moving forward, the performance did not improve, but also did not fall, averaging 19.1 points, 3.8 assists and 8 rebounds per game, the performance is not bad, but it did not explode as expected, Howard's peak performance is the second grade average of 22 points per game.
At the end of the 96-97 season, the Bullets changed owners and became today's Washington Wizards, in the Wizards, Howard is still averaging 19+8+3 per game, although this performance is not bad, but compared with the annual salary, Howard's high salary is low energy. At the same time, Howard was also injured in the game, after the injury, Howard's pace slowed down, and then played the third position, the pace suffered a loss, Howard did not have the ability to swing in the three or four positions, he could only concentrate on playing the fourth position, the injury hurt Howard a lot, so that Howard's ability went down a step.
Although he can't play in the third position, in the fourth position, Howard also plays well with his solid back technology and passing vision, and is also a star in the league, although not as beautiful as before, but the life is good. Howard played with the Wizards until '01, and in '01, the Wizards made a big deal, and in that trade, Howard was sent to the Mavericks, and of course, the Mavericks at the time. In the Lone Ranger, Howard played well, but Howard was not the Lone Ranger's dish, and the Lone Ranger did not leave Howard, Howard went to the Nuggets, and in the Nuggets, Howard played a short job and was signed by the Magic. This roundabout is three years, and in these three years, Howard has achieved nothing on the field, which is a waste.
In the Magic, Howard played well, averaging 17 points, 2 assists and 7 rebounds per game, and at this time, the Rockets began to form a championship-winning lineup, they hit Howard, and through the trade, got Howard, and Yao Ming as a teammate, since then, Howard has become a player that Chinese fans know very well, and affectionately call Howard "Uncle Howard". After coming to the Rockets, Howard actually made a great sacrifice for the team, when he came to the Rockets, he was only 31 years old, although the ability was declining, but in the general team, when a starter, averaging 15 points per game is no problem, but in the Rockets, he does not have this space, he must have fewer shots, be a role player, and in order to win the championship, Howard gladly accepted the new role.
In the past few seasons of the Rockets, Howard's role has become less and less, but he is very professional, training hard, in the words of the then Rockets head coach Van Gundy: "Howard is one of the most professional players, he trains hard, prepares carefully, always consistent, he always obeys all the arrangements of the team, full of vitality, many veterans lose the passion of the game because they can't play, Howard still loves this basketball court, he is a qualified professional player." ”
Howard couldn't help the team on the court, but off the court, he was a role model, he inspired his teammates, he gathered the hearts of teammates, although in the end he did not achieve the goal of winning the championship, Howard was worthy of the Rockets. Howard and the Rockets' fate to the 06-07 season, in the summer of 07, Howard went to the Timberwolves, and after Garnett was sent away, Howard was very dissatisfied, asked the team to buy himself out, the Timberwolves agreed, Howard went to the Lone Ranger. After that, Howard began to wander again, changing teams three times and eventually taking root in the Heat. Howard came to the Heat in the 10-11 season, the Heat just formed the "Big Three", on the court, Howard is not a role, but off the court, Howard is important.
His personality charm is shown again, although the big three are majestic on the court, but it is inevitable that sometimes the authorities are confused and can't see the situation clearly, and Howard can see clearly, the most important thing is that his communication ability is very strong, he is also very authoritative, when the team has problems, Howard asks the locker room door to close, talk to his teammates, and the teammates will also listen to him, rekindle enthusiasm, put their strength together, in the words of the then Heat head coach Spoo, "He has a way to walk in, roll up his sleeves, and make every player in line." With this leadership, Howard spent a long time in the Heat, a player that the Heat will not let go, and Howard also won two championships with the Heat, bringing his career to a perfect end.
After winning two championships with the Heat, Howard announced his retirement and ended his NBA career. Howard played in the NBA for 19 years, not much honor, only two championships, a substitute for the All-Star, once selected for the best team third team and a best rookie team second team, but Howard still accumulated a lot of data in the NBA, a total of 16159 points, grabbed 7428 rebounds, gave 2663 assists, Howard although not a superstar, but his NBA career is still very successful.
Write at the end
After Howard retired, he became the Heat's assistant coach, it turned out that he was indeed a coaching material, he worked as a teaching assistant for a long time, participated in the rebuilding of the Heat, in 2019, Howard left Miami to go to the University of Michigan to become a head coach.
The University of Michigan is where Howard became famous, and it was at the University of Michigan that Howard performed well and became one of the "Michigan Five Tigers" that people like. Back in michigan's arena, Howard is sure to remember what he used to do. In terms of Howard's ability, he can be a good coach, and I hope he can make more children realize their NBA dreams.