Does Dwight Howard have a son? Finding out more

Dwight Howard has a rare family history regarding his children and partners. Howard has five different children with five different mothers. The former NBA star looks after all five of his kids, who have taken his last name.

Dwight Howard has three sons named Braylon, Trey and David and two daughters, Layla and Jayde. Braylon is his oldest son, who he had with Royce Reed, a former Orlando Magic cheerleader, in 2007.

He had Layla with former partner Tiffany Render and Jayde with Hope Alexa in 2010. Christine Vest gave birth to Trey, and the later Melissa Rios is the mother of David, also born in 2013.

Rios died due to an epileptic seizure in 2020. David has lived with Dwight since then, while his other kids live elsewhere in Florida, LA and Houston, with their mothers.

Dwight Howard had all of his kids out of wedlock. When he had his firstborn, Braylon, he was ashamed about it due to his faith in Christianity. His parents and the general public judged him plenty and looked at him as a hypocrite as he had professed his faith to the whole world.

Howard once claimed he should've been more responsible, but he doesn't see any of his kids as a mistake and tries his best to support them.

"It’s a tough situation, obviously,” Howard said in an interview with Sports Illustrated in 2017. “I should have been more responsible. I messed up. I sinned. But I won’t look at any of them as a mistake. They’re all a blessing to me.”

Dwight Howard's complicated personal life led to his sudden decline

Dwight Howard was one of the best centers in the game when he arrived in the NBA. Howard averaged 12 and 10 his first year, with nearly two swats a game. Howard built onto that and got better every year. In his peak years between 2007 and 2012, Howard was near unstoppable.

He averaged roughly 20 points, 15 rebounds and two to three blocks a game in that stretch, making a finals appearance in 2009, multiple All-Star appearances and winning three consecutive DPOY awards.

However, with custody battles of his kids and lawsuits coming in one after the other, Howard's career derailed.

He made his last All-Star appearance in 2012 and never played a leading role on a contending team, despite multiple years away from hitting his 30s. Howard's averages dropped to 15 and 10 per contest and eventually into single digits in his last three seasons.

Dwight Howard took time to accept a significantly lesser role later in his career, but once he did, he became a coveted veteran presence on contending teams. He won his first and only chip with the Lakers in 2020.