Morry Gash / AP

At the age of 22, Dwight Howard is already an unstoppable force in the paint.

Free-throw shooting aside, the biggest criticism of Dwight Howard is that he doesn’t have a go-to move.

Haven’t the critics seen him dunk? How about last year’s game-winner vs. the Spurs? Kissing the rim? Or the All-Star sticker?

So far this year, more than 35 percent of Howard’s field goals have been dunks. What a basketball player wants to do, whenever he wants to do it? That is a go-to move.

Cavaliers assistant coach Chris Jent said Howard thirsts for the jam relentlessly.

“Early on, we just wanted him to catch the ball in tight and get it to the rim, put it in the basket, get your two points,” said Jent, who worked with Howard in Orlando, including as the team’s interim head coach the final 18 games of the 2005 season.

“He wanted to jump up and tear the rim off every single time. And he’d say, ‘Coach, I gotta dunk that. I gotta dunk that.’ And he’d come in with these big swooping dunks. The fact that he knows he can do that every time — he understands he’s pretty special. There aren’t too many people on the floor that know they can dunk on anyone who’s out there.”

Howard, of course, is more than a dunker. In his fourth NBA season, Orlando’s 22-year-old center has become one of the league’s top players, ranking among the leaders in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and field-goal percentage. The early performance, along with his team’s improvement — Orlando is on pace for its first winning season since 2003 — has earned Howard some early MVP consideration.

In fact, he is well on the path to greatness that was envisioned by many when Howard was drafted out of high school by the Magic with the No. 1 overall selection in the 2004 draft. One scouting report then already mentioned the possibility of an “all-time top-50 player.”

“He’s just scratching the surface,” said Magic radio analyst Richie Adubato, a former NBA coach who has been involved in basketball for more than four decades. “The sky is the limit for him. There’s no doubt about it.”

Path to greatness
Everything has fallen into place for the budding superstar. These items on the checklist have already been met:

• Stability of two loving parents, Dwight Sr. and Sheryl, former basketball players who grew up just doors apart and dated as teenagers? Check.
• A belief system that didn’t put a talented basketball standout on a pedestal or at the center of its universe? Check. Howard grew up doing nightly chores, received an alarm clock as a present from his parents on his 18th birthday, and drove to school in a 1984 Ford Crown Victoria that cost $900.
• A consistent educational structure that taught discipline, dedication and respect? Check. Howard graduated from Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, the only school he attended from the time he was in preschool. His graduating class had fewer than 20 students.
• An on-the-job training course in Role Model 101? Check. Howard was well aware all eyes were on him at school, that students, particularly younger ones, mimicked how he wore his uniform, how he walked, talked and acted.
• A timely growth spurt? Check. Howard was a point guard and already possessed excellent ball-handling skills, footwork and end-to-end speed when he grew nearly six inches prior to entering the 10th grade.

• Chuck Burton / AP It normally requires more than one player to come close to containing Howard.

  Pristine health? Check. Howard has not missed a game as a pro — 272 in a row and counting — and his minutes per game have increased each year. Moreover, Howard has added nearly 30 pounds of muscle to his 6-11 frame (currently 265 pounds), helping him take the pounding of NBA life in the paint without sacrificing any quickness and agility.
• An easygoing demeanor? Check. If he isn’t working on his game or in the weight room, Howard is probably smiling and/or dancing. Here he is hamming it up with Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James at last year’s All-Star game. “He’s a fun guy to be around,” said Morlon Wiley, Orlando’s director of player development. “Some guys you can put up with for a little time, but then you need to get away from them. He’s an easy guy to be around. Dwight is genuinely a good guy, and you pull for guys like that.” Added Jent, “He’s just a goofball, a goofy, big kid. He’s fun-loving and hasn’t changed. And that’s good to see. He likes to do his little song and dance. That’s been a constant. The tunes have changed, but the routine probably hasn’t.”
• Learning from great teachers? Check. In his brief career, Howard has already worked with Mark Bryant and Clifford Ray — two of the game’s top big-man coaches, guys who carved out 25 years combined on NBA rosters by relying on intelligence more than talent. This year Orlando brought in Patrick Ewing, one of the best shooting centers in history, to help with Howard’s jump shot. “Dwight has really benefited from being around those guys,” Wiley said. “He’s had the cream of the crop as far as guys who have actually been to the moon, guys who have actually been there and know what it’s like to get hit by Shaq.”
• Pushing himself against the best? Check. Howard not only made this summer’s Team USA roster, which included James and Kobe Bryant, he established himself as one of the team’s top players and helped lead it to the World Championship. “I think the best thing that happened to him was USA basketball, because he was around quality players, stars in the league,” said Orlando assistant general manager Dave Twardzik. “He was able to compete with them and do well against them. I think that was a tremendous boost for his maturity.”
• A desire to be the best? Check. Howard’s list of goals, tacked to his bedroom wall prior to ninth grade, included being the first draft pick. The list has been modified a bit. “Be the best.” “Dwight set the bar extremely high,” Wiley said. “He has been a sponge as far as knowledge, wanting to know as much as he can, about working on his game, getting better and putting in the extra time. The goal is to make sure he can max out, leave no stone unturned, so when it’s all said and done he can say, ‘I did everything to be the best.’”

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