15 best Michigan basketball NBA careers in Wolverines history

5. Juwan Howard

The current head coach of the Wolverines was a pretty stellar basketball player in his own right. Juwan Howard was the dominant power forward from Chicago who was part of the Fab Five and was responsible for significant basketball success for this program in the early 90s.

He had a handful of dynamic performances in the NCAA Tournament, helping guide Michigan to the national title game in his first two seasons. As a junior, he averaged 20.8 points and 8.9 rebounds, earning Third-Team All-American honors.

Pick No. 5 by the Washington Bullets back in 1994, Howard’s NBA career would last for nearly two decades and feature roles with eight different franchises. He was named an All-Star in just his second year in the league and was an All-NBA Third Teamer that season as well.

He averaged 17.8 points and 7.4 rebounds across his first decade in the NBA before settling into more of a reserve role in the back end of his career. Howard would win a pair of NBA championships with the Miami Heat to end his playing days before joining them as an assistant in 2013.

Howard was a significant player in the NBA for a very long time. He wasn’t a major component in those championships at the end, nor did he appear in a load of All-Star games or move mountains, but he was terrific.

Anyone who lasts 19 years in the NBA is clearly doing something right. Only a couple of former Wolverines played more games or scored more points than Howard, and his legacy continues as the program’s head coach, winning AP Coach of the Year as the nation’s best back in 2021.