Juvenile Court

Childhood, it was nice while it lasted.

Dwight Howard was 18 years old, 6 feet 8 1/4 and still growing, 240 pounds and already living in the weight room, when the Orlando Magic made him the first pick in last summer’s NBA draft and he dazzled everyone at his first news conference.

“Please, Dwight, don’t lose that winning smile,” went a headline in an Orlando newspaper the next day.

And he didn’t, for the first five weeks of his rookie season, anyway.

On Dec. 8, Howard’s 19th birthday, he was averaging a double-double, 10.9 points, 10.4 rebounds. That was a higher scoring average than Kevin Garnett had his rookie year and the highest rookie rebound average ever.

The next night, after getting three shots and missing them all in a loss to Miami, Howard said he was “kind of upset” he wasn’t getting the ball.

“We talked to him,” Orlando General Manager John Weisbrod said. “I sort of like that, actually, because it was him being hungry to get to the next level and be better as a player immediately.

“You know, he came in in the beginning of the season and was very happy to be here and ‘I’ll rebound and block shots.’ And as he got more and more comfortable, he started sort of feeling his oats a little bit....

“I take the fact that he was hungry to get the ball and sort of stand up to his teammates about being involved in the offense and not just cleaning up the garbage on the offensive glass as a good indicator of his hunger to make the next step.”

A lot has changed in the nine years since Garnett jumped from high school to the pros and started a movement.

Then it was considered daring. A year later when Kobe Bryant became the first perimeter player to try, it was considered foolhardy. Now it’s a way of life, with a record eight high school players going in the last draft’s first round -- five in the lottery.

Howard was a good student whose parents worked at the Atlanta high school he attended, but now even elite players with his background don’t consider college.

Only three colleges bothered to recruit Howard in his senior year. North Carolina’s Roy Williams was the only one from outside Georgia, showing Howard a briefcase containing 26 NCAA and conference title rings won by players he coached. The two he didn’t have on him, he explained, were Michael Jordan’s.

Not that that made it more difficult for Howard.

“I’ve been wanting to go to the NBA out of high school since I was young, 2 years old,” he said.

Meanwhile, NBA general managers, who used to wince at the thought of scouting high school games, see most of their peers at some now.

In 1996, Indiana President Donnie Walsh was publicly skeptical of Bryant’s ability to make the jump.

In 1998, Walsh drafted Al Harrington out of Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick’s High. And in 1999, he traded Antonio Davis, one of his mainstays, for Jonathan Bender of Picayune (Miss.) Memorial High.

“That’s where the league is,” Walsh said, “and there’s a good side and a downside to that.

“The young players are not at the level of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird right now. Talent-wise, they are. And to be honest, I think there’s probably 25 of them in the league that are at that talent level. The future of the league is just awesome, but it’s going to take time for these kids to have their day....

“I think you just have to understand these kids aren’t aware of the profession yet, so there’s going to be mistakes and I wouldn’t get all twisted up about it.”

It Beats a Paper Route

Despite the controversial nature of the issue, it doesn’t happen just in basketball, but across the board.

Only the NFL bars high school players. Baseball has always drafted players out of high school, as has the NHL. Freddy Adu joined Major League Soccer at 14. The new sensation in tennis is 15-year-old Donald Young, whom Nike just signed to an endorsement contract.

From the NBA’s perspective, it’s no longer a question of whether it’s good or bad. Everyone has to learn to deal with it.

Aside from the McDonald’s Classic replacing the NCAA tournament as the marquee event on the pre-draft circuit, it means some teams will get great steals, such as the Lakers trading for the No. 13 pick that became Bryant.

There will also be great disappointments, such as Kwame Brown, the top pick in 2001, who is still a Washington Wizard reserve.

And there will be great anguish, such as what the Chicago Bulls experienced with Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry, the Nos. 2 and 4 picks in 2001, who took so long to develop. The team was listening to offers for Curry until both young players suddenly began putting it together this season.

For the Magic, faced with a choice between University of Connecticut junior Emeka Okafor and Howard, it was a difficult decision.

Weisbrod had the advantage of a hockey background (he played for the New York Rangers and worked for the New Jersey Devils before moving into arena administration and crossing over to basketball) and had dealt with high school prospects.

However, he also had a team at a low ebb.

On one hand, he could take Okafor to get immediate help and cheer up the local franchise player, Tracy McGrady, who was noticeably unhappy and a year from free agency.

On the other hand, after McGrady expressed apathy, they could go another way: Trade McGrady and make the choice on its own merits.

“It wasn’t a difficult perception of who we thought would be the better player three or four years down the road,” Weisbrod said. “We just thought the upside in Dwight was so tremendous.

“What made it difficult was that obviously we were making this selection at a time when our team was awful, when we were coming off a 21-win season and being the worst team in the NBA. If ever there’s a situation that screams for a need for immediate help, that was it....

“We stepped back and decided to reach our ultimate goal, which is obviously winning a championship, we were going to need a lot of other pieces and the difference between the two players’ readiness in their first year was not a smart reason to go for the shorter-term fix.”

With Okafor averaging 15 points and 11 rebounds in Charlotte, the decision is still debated in Orlando, but that’s what the new era is all about.

Waiting and seeing.

Boy in the Bubble

Howard is as straight as arrows come, a born-again Christian who attended Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, where they didn’t call the dance at the end of the year a “prom” because that sounded too secular.

He’s hardworking, poised, soft-spoken and nice as can be -- so nice that he gave Weisbrod pause.

“Probably the one thing that stands out when you talk to him is he’s such a nice kid and he’s such a good kid, you wonder about him having the killer instinct and the real competitive desire to take guys on,” Weisbrod said.

“But he’s really done a good job in dealing with that, not that in his mind it was anything he had to deal with. Even though he’s not a sort of loud, aggressive-type person, he takes a lot of pride in his performance, sort of like a Tim Duncan in terms of his temperament.

“He’s a quiet kid and very professional and doesn’t come off as necessarily the type of guy that wants to cut your heart out, but he does.”

It was a good sign when Howard came back from summer ball, in which he had done well, said he had been pushed around too much and threw himself into weightlifting.

Since the draft, the team says he has grown nearly an inch, to 6-9, and is up to 262 pounds.

It was an extremely good sign when he waded in and began rebounding like a grown man in camp. He was in the starting lineup on opening night and never looked back.

It’s not a game anymore, and it’s not just a job either. It’s a lifestyle. Aside from games, practices and trips, Howard is surrounded by a support system.

A 24-year-old cousin lives with him and hangs out with him on the road. A chef hired by the team comes in to cook so Howard gets the 5,200 calories a day a growing young power forward needs. The Magic conditioning coach and the team’s big-man assistant coach, Clifford Ray, are in constant contact.

“Everything I expected in the NBA, that’s what it is,” Howard said. “It’s a grind. It’s a lot of hard work that you’ve got to put in. Everything that I expected is here....

“It’s fun. It’s also a lot of work, but it’s fun. It’s something that I asked for. I have faith that God won’t put me in positions to mess me up or make me fail. It’s something that I earned and something I want to keep working at.”

Of course, this is just the beginning.

Last spring, Howard, his father and an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter who spent 10 months observing Dwight’s metamorphosis visited the set of TNT’s NBA studio show.

Magic Johnson gave Dwight advice and Charles Barkley was Charles Barkley.

Pointing to a young woman, Barkley said, “Now this is what you can’t mess with. They’ll be after you, and don’t think it’s because you’re good-looking. It’s who you are.”

“You tell him, Charles,” Dwight’s father said.

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First in their class

Moses Malone (ABA Utah Stars), Bill Willoughby (second round, pick No. 19, Atlanta Hawks) and Darryl Dawkins (pick No. 5, Philadelphia 76ers) went from high school to the pros in the 1970s. Since then, 26 high school players have been picked in the first round:

*--* Year Player High School Drafted by 1995 Kevin Garnett Farragut Academy (Illinois) Minnesota 1996 Kobe Bryant Lower Merion (Pa.) Charlotte 1996 Jermaine O’Neal Eau Claire (South Carolina) Portland 1997 Tracy McGrady Mt. Zion (North Carolina) Toronto 1998 Al Harrington St Patrick’s (New Jersey) Indiana 1999 Jonathan Bender Picayune (Mississippi) Toronto 1999 Leon Smith King (Illinois) San Antonio 2000 Darius Miles East St. Louis (Illinois) CLIPPERS 2000 DeShawn Stevenson Wash. Union (California) Utah 2001 Kwame Brown Glynn Academy (Georgia) Washington 2001 Tyson Chandler Dominguez (California) CLIPPERS 2001 Eddy Curry Thornwood (Illinois) Chicago 2001 Desagana Diop Oak Hill Academy (Virginia) Cleveland

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*--* Year Player High School Drafted by 2002 Amare Stoudemire Cypress Creek (Florida) Phoenix 2003 LeBron James St. Vincent-St. Mary (Ohio) Cleveland 2003 Travis Outlaw Starkville (Mississippi) Portland 2003 Ndudi Ebi Westbury Christian (Texas) Minnesota 2003 Kendrick Perkins Beaumont Ozen (Texas) Memphis 2004 Dwight Howard Atlanta Christian Academy Orlando 2004 Shaun Livingston Peoria Central (Illinois) Clippers 2004 Robert Swift Bakersfield Seattle 2004 Sebastian Telfair Lincoln (New York) Portland 2004 Al Jefferson Prentiss (Mississippi) Boston 2004 Josh Smith Oak Hill (Virginia) Atlanta 2004 J.R. Smith St. Benedict’s (N.J.) New Orleans 2004 Dorell Wright South Kent (Conn.) Miami

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NBA high school class of 2004

A record eight high school players were taken in the first round of the 2004 NBA draft. All of them went in the first 19 picks, and five went in the lottery. Here’s how they look, according to one general manager (draft position, heights according to the Chicago pre-draft camp.):

1. DWIGHT HOWARD, 6-8

ORLANDO -- Already producing grownup numbers (10.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 10th in the league) and may be just scratching the surface.

“For a high school kid to come in and get double figures, I think says a lot,” the GM said. “He’s got a great body. I think if he develops, he’s going to be a Karl Malone-type power forward.”

4. SHAUN LIVINGSTON, 6-6

CLIPPERS -- Played only 11 games before getting hurt, but he’s regarded as a comer.

“I like him. I think it’s going to take time, like three years, but he’s a great athlete and playmaker and he’s tall.”

12. ROBERT SWIFT, 7-0

SEATTLE -- The former USC signee is being brought along slowly, having played 31 minutes all season.

“In high school I liked him a lot. He’s active. He’s one of those guys who’s just on the boards all the time.”

13. SEBASTIAN TELFAIR, 5-11

PORTLAND -- Averaging 4.3 points in 11 minutes, shooting 36%. It was a surprise when this ultra-hyped New York point guard was drafted so early. Although he has shown quickness and playmaking ability, it’s still a surprise.

“I’m not sure about him. My question is size and can he get away with the stuff he did in high school. I don’t think he should have come out.”

15. AL JEFFERSON, 6-8 1/4

BOSTON -- Averaging 7.0 points and 4.8 rebounds in 16 minutes, shooting 52%. He was supposed to be a little too short and a little too round to be an NBA power forward. He turned out to be a great big steal.

“I love him. I think he’s going to be a monster. He’s a man. He has very long arms, he’s athletic. He’s just one of those guys who can play down there.”

17. JOSH SMITH, 6-7

ATLANTA -- Averaging 7.7 points in 23 minutes, shooting 49%. Highlight-reel dunker who was once projected as a top-five pick but dropped because of (legitimate) concern about his skill level.

“He has a lot to learn. He’s extremely athletic. He’s going to be great in some games making athletic plays, because the guys aren’t ready for him. He would have been better off in college, working on his skill set.”

18. J.R. SMITH, 6-5

NEW ORLEANS -- Averaging 7.0 points in 20 minutes a game, shooting 37%. Now here’s an exciting athlete who’s raw but has skills.

“He’s wild, but he’s got shooting range you wouldn’t believe. He has Michael Jordan-type explosion. If he’d have gone to North Carolina [where he signed] for two years, you’d be looking at something completely different. I think they’re doing it the right way, breaking him in slowly, and I think he’s trying to learn how to play the right way.”

19. DORELL WRIGHT, 6-6

MIAMI -- Has played two minutes all season on this veteran team in title-pursuit mode but has eye-popping talent.

“I liked him a lot in high school. He’s like J.R. Smith, but without the jump shot.”

-- Mark Heisler