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PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID YELLEN

ATHLETIC SUPERSTARS ARE NOTORIOUS for withholding their thoughts, feelings and beliefs from their adoring fans. During his time at the pinnacle of the sports mountaintop, Michael Jordan revealed as little about himself as possible. (Despite being a Democrat, he refused a request to publicly support Harvey Gantt in the 1990 North Carolina senatorial race, reasoning, “Republicans buy sneakers, too.”) Instead, he became all things to all people.

Many of today’s stars—think Roger Federer and LeBron James—have followed in Jordan’s footsteps, keeping their lives private and shielded. However, in our wired world, sports fandom has changed. Because outlets like Twitter and Facebook have humanized athletes, there is a desire to know them as we know our friends. But while we want them to be like us, we still want them to be different somehow. Better.

Dwight Howard is the perfect superstar for our age. An outspoken and genuinely nice guy, the Orlando Magic center wants you to know exactly who he is. There is no distance between the 25-year-old and his fans: He has a Twitter page (which is common among professional athletes) and a regularly updated blog that he writes himself (which certainly isn’t). He opens every post with “Heyyyy World!” and divulges his innermost thoughts, sometimes to his own detriment. Last November, he was fined $15,000 for criticizing referees, even though his complaint was relatively subdued: “What bothers me is they are letting guys hammer me at one end of the floor, yet I’m being called for everything. All of those hits take a toll on my body after awhile.”

It’s not surprising that Howard is so willing to share his life online. A self-proclaimed “tech nerd,” he says, “When I was growing up, I wanted to get into computer technology. I just didn’t have the resources. [Using] social media is second nature to me. And I want to let people see who I am as a person.”

Howard’s efforts to connect with the public go far beyond what most athletes are willing to do. When he notched his millionth follower on Twitter, he flew her and her son from Sacramento to Orlando for the Magic’s home opener. He currently has 1.4 million followers and often sends more than 20 individual responses per day. Sure, other players Twitter or broadcast their lives online, but no one cares about them. Everyone cares about Dwight Howard.

HOWARD’S ASCENSION TO THE UPPER TIER OF THE NBA happened suddenly. In the 2008-09 season, the 6-foot-11-inch, 270-pound baller grew into his own, leading the NBA in rebounds (for the third consecutive season) and field-goal percentage. He won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award, was named to the All-NBA Team and finished fourth in MVP voting. The Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James, who finished first, saw his team blitzed in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Howard-led Magic, which wiped out the favorites in six not-all-that-competitive games. The Magic lost in the NBA Finals to the Lakers, but, clearly, Howard and his team had arrived. The raw athlete who went straight from high school to the NBA as the first overall draft pick had turned into a sculpted basketball star.

“It’s just been an amazing ride,” Howard says. “It happened so fast, I could barely catch up. I always wanted to be a major player in this league, and I always knew I would be. But I’d be lying if I said I thought it was gonna come so fast.”

No one had picked the Magic to make the Finals, but the team’s rapid ascent meant the only thing to do the next season was add to the package and build around the young star. (Enter the once divisive, now beloved teammate Vince Carter, an All-Star who gives the Magic a very deep roster.) ESPN’s NBA analyst John Hollinger has called the Magic “positively stacked,” and at the center of it all is Superman. In fact, the Cavs were so frustrated by their utter inability to stop Howard in the Eastern Conference finals that they supposedly brought in Shaquille O’Neal just to slow him down if they met again. And as Coach Stan Van Gundy says, “It all revolves around Dwight,” he says. “He’s so good-natured, yet a leader.”

Despite their intensity on the court, the Magic is a profoundly goofy enterprise—and Howard is the ringleader of this circus, a locker room full of oddballs and best friends. “On the road, we find that the most fun thing to do is stay in the hotel and hang out with each other,” Howard says. “We’re trying to have as much fun as possible. We’re young; this is supposed to be fun. After guys are traded, they’re always saying what a great time they had playing with us.”

Howard says he gives all his teammates nicknames, which everyone uses. Forward Brandon Bass is affectionately known as “Precious,” a moniker Howard claims that Bass likes. “We’ll come up with another nickname for him next week, I’m sure,” he says. “That’s the fun part. That’s my job.”

Howard himself has been bestowed with the ultimate nickname of “Superman,” which fits his powerful physique and became etched in the public’s memory when he donned a cape and costume to win the 2008 Slam Dunk Contest in soaring, majestic fashion. He originally earned the alias for his dance moves—specifically his love of doing the Superman dance that accompanies Soulja Boy’s hit song “Crank That (Soulja Boy).”

So can a locker room so loose and silly create the type of team that can score a title? Ask Howard, and you’ll get a resounding yes. “It’s all about winning championships,” he says. “That’s what makes you a legend, and that’s the goal of everything we do. We understand how far that can take you.”

With that kind of ambition, it was almost inevitable that Howard would follow the lead of other charismatic athletes and head to Hollywood. He has a cameo appearance in the upcoming Valentine’s Day (with Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx and Anne Hathaway) and a more substantial role in Just Wright, starring Queen Latifah. And he clearly enjoys the moonlighting.

“The people there said I was really good, and I’m happy to take their word for it,” he says. “I’ve done commercials before, so I feel pretty good around a camera. Acting is one of the things I’ve always wanted to do. I used to practice in front of a mirror. I still do.”

MOST YOUNG PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES HAVE NO IDEA what they’re going to do with themselves when their careers are over. Considering how short the average sports career is, and how little experience they often have in the world of personal finance, this can be particularly perilous. Once again, Howard breaks the mold. His future seems to be all he thinks about. He has lots of plans, including a desire to keep acting, but what he really wants to do is no less ambitious than becoming the next black president. (“I’ll have to settle for being the second,” he says. “Obama beat me to it.”)

“A lot of that has to do with my faith,” Howard says. “I want to make a difference, and I want to be prudent and smart. I love basketball, and I want to be the greatest, but basketball is not all that I am. Someday, I won’t have basketball. I’ve always dreamed about going into politics. I just want to do something important and big. Everything starts with you, as one person, and what kind of change you can make.”

Howard certainly seems to have a disposition that could lead to a successful career in politics. He’s socially conscious, giving millions away to charities every year in Orlando, Central Florida and his hometown of Atlanta, GA, and traveling to South Africa as part of the NBA’s Basketball without Borders program. (Naturally, he filed daily blog posts from the country.) He’s also likable and charismatic. But perhaps most important, he has an almost compulsive desire to succeed. It’s a deadly combination. Underestimate him at your own peril.

“I would like to think that I have the right mix of parts of my personality that I can make an impact beyond basketball,” he says. “But I’m taking care of basketball first.” Keeping track of Howard shouldn’t be a problem. Whether it’s through Twitter, his blog, You-Tube or the movies, he’s not a difficult guy to find. He is larger than life. He is Superman.

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