ORLANDO, Fla. — The spotlight will shine on basketball in the state of Florida Saturday when former Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard and former Gators men’s basketball coach Billy Donovan will be among the stellar 2025 class inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

What You Need To Know

Former Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard and ex-Florida Gators coach Billy Donovan will be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday

Howard will be inducted twice, for his individual accomplishments and as a member of the 2008 men’s U.S. Olympic team

Donovan coached the Gators to national championships in 2006 and 2007 during his 19 seasons as coach

Other inductees Saturday are Carmelo Anthony, Sue Bird, Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles, Miami Heat Managing General Partner Micky Arison and longtime NBA referee Dan Crawford

Howard will be inducted twice — for his individual contributions as one of the best centers in NBA history and as a member of the 2008 men’s U.S. Olympic basketball team that was nicknamed the “Redeem Team” for bringing the gold medal back to the United States.

Donovan was coach of the Florida Gators for 19 seasons from 1996 to 2015. He led the Gators to their first two men’s NCAA basketball championships in back-to-back seasons, 2006 and 2007. That team was led by three players who went on to standout NBA careers in Al Horford, who is still playing in the league, Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer.

Billy Donovan holds up the championship trophy after coaching the Gators to the title in 2007, the team’s 2nd in 2 seasons. (Associated Press)

While at Florida, Donovan became the most successful coach in Gators history. In total, the Gators went to four Final Fours and won six Southeastern Conference regular-season titles. He left with a 467-186 record, a .715 winning percentage. He was hired by the NBA’s Bulls in September 2020 and still coaches in Chicago today.

Howard and Donovan could have paired up earlier because the Magic hired Donovan to coach the team in mid-2007. But Donovan changed his mind just six days later and returned to Florida to coach through the 2014-15 season.

Howard was drafted by the Magic in 2024 straight out of high school at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, and the partnership paid off for the player and Orlando, where he helped lead the team to the NBA Finals in the 2008-09 season and to two Eastern Conference Finals, in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

The honor capped off a career in which Howard was selected as an NBA All-Star eight times (from 2007-2012), was a five-time NBA rebounding champion (from 2008-2010, in 2012 and 2013), a two-time blocked shots champion (2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons) and the only player to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year in three consecutive seasons (2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11). All of those accolades were achieved as a member of the Magic, except one of the seasons he led the league in rebounding, 2012-13.

He also was named to the 2006-07 All-NBA Third team and the All-NBA First Team for five seasons in a row, starting in 2007-08, and the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2007-08 and the NBA All-Defensive First Team for four consecutive seasons, starting in 2008-09.

Howard was a showman, too. He took part in three NBA All-Star Slam Dunk contests. He won in 2008, when he stepped out of a mock phone booth, donned a cape and soared from around the free-throw line to the hoop for his iconic “Superman” dunk.

“I’m most proud of the fact that I’ve had longevity, and I’ve been able to play as long as I’ve been able to play and stay as healthy as I have,” Howard said. “And I want people to say that one thing about me is that I was always going to put my best foot forward, 100% effort. They can say, ‘No matter what it is, he’s going to put in everything he has’.”

In Orlando, Howard remains the career leader in minutes played (22,471), points (11,435), free throws made (3,366) and attempted (5,727), rebounds (8,072), blocked shots (1,344) and personal fouls (2,002). On Nov. 12, 2008, he recorded a triple-double against Oklahoma City with 30 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocked shots.

While with the Magic, center Dwight Howard (right) won 3 NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

He was strong off the court, too. Howard received the Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award for his community service six times while he played in Orlando.

The only achievement he did not record with Orlando was winning an NBA championship. He got his lone NBA ring in 2020, with the Lakers when Los Angeles defeated the Miami Heat in the bubble finals, ironically played at Walt Disney World in Orlando during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Howard averaged 15.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game for his career. Only 13 other players in the history of the NBA have posted those numbers for a career. He is 10th on the NBA’s all-time rebounding list, 13th on the list of blocked shots. His three DPOY awards trail only four-time winners Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace and Rudy Gobert.

Only one other player — Elvin Hayes — finished his NBA career averaging as many points, rebounds and blocked shots as Howard did. Blocks didn’t become an official stat until 1973, but regardless, the numbers showed Howard was a lock for the hall in Springfield, Mass., to call.

Howard was left off the NBA’s 75th anniversary team that was unveiled nearly four years ago.

His longtime coach with the Magic, Stan Van Gundy, said Howard deserved to be on the team because his intelligence, athleticism and quickness helped him dominate opponents.

“It was absolutely ridiculous that he didn’t make Top 75,” said Van Gundy, who was hired by Orlando after Donovan stayed at Florida. 

Howard and Van Gundy didn’t always agree. On that point, they’re in lockstep.

“I was wondering if I was ever going to get into the Hall of Fame after the Top 75 thing because it just seemed like, as far as my basketball play, I haven’t really received that much respect from my years in the league,” Howard said. “It was a little difficult. But then once I got the call, I was like, ‘Wow, this is here’.”

The 75th anniversary team snub might come up in the speech that Howard is planning to deliver this weekend. If this speech goes like the one he gave earlier this year when he was inducted into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame, expect some laughs and some tears. Howard doesn’t mind showing his emotions.

The Hall didn’t make him wait, either. Howard was voted in during his first year of eligibility.

“It’s happening. It’s me being in the Hall of Fame, being inducted in the Hall of Fame as a player and then being inducted into the Hall of Fame as an Olympian,” Howard said. “It’s just like a double whammy, but in a good way.”

Howard is one of two dual-enshrinees this weekend; he and former Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony are both going into the Hall of Fame for their individual achievements and as part of the “Redeem Team.”

Also entering the Hall this weekend: women’s basketball greats Sue Bird, Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles, Miami Heat Managing General Partner Micky Arison and longtime NBA referee Dan Crawford.

“It’s a great class,” USA Basketball men’s national team director Sean Ford said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.