WS Chronicle

On Wednesday, June 30, the ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the unveiling of the upgrades made to the gymnasium at the W.R. Anderson Recreation Center. As part of those upgrades, Josh Howard’s name was put on the floor of the gymnasium.

Throughout his NBA career and even after retirement, Howard has continued to give back to the city, especially the kids at the rec center. He grew up in the neighborhood near W.R. Anderson, and spent countless hours there as a youth, so it was only natural to honor him by putting his name on the court.

“It was truly a blessing to be a pillar in the community now and I am definitely thankful for that,” Howard said about having his name on the court. “The city council members that allowed that to happen was definitely an honor, so I’m excited about it and it’s a blessing.

“It reminded me of how times flies and having flashbacks of when I was a young man coming up there just to play basketball and spending time with Mr. Bonner, who was the rec leader at the time, and Mr. B when I started working there in college. I just have many memories and flashbacks of great and bad times. I got picked on when I played there at one point, then I played some of my best basketball there throughout high school, so there were so many emotions.”

Howard is humble by nature and does not do things for recognition, but rather because that’s how he was raised. He never thought an honor like this would be bestowed upon him by just doing what he was taught to do.

“I am just a humble guy from Morningside, which is right over the hill,” he said. “I always wanted to do good and show my community that if you live a great life as a model citizen, great things will happen to you and I just want to be a reflection of my community.”

Howard always made it a point to continually be visible in the city since his graduation from Wake Forest. He has been holding annual summer camps at W.R. Anderson and he routinely returns home to attend events and socialize.

“Just looking back at my time at home, there is no place better,” said Howard about his visibility in the city, just being a hometown kid staying humble and true to where he is from. 

“Just want to show my community that being a model citizen and doing the things you’re supposed to do, the sky’s the limit for you.”

The idea for Josh Howard’s name being included in the renovations was due to the suggestion by W.R. Anderson Recreation Center Senior Supervisor, Bryant McCorkle. After witnessing Howard growing up in the center and the philanthropic work he has done over the years, McCorkle says it was only right to include Howard’s name in the renovations.

“The reason why I felt that Josh’s name should go on the court was because Josh has done a lot of good things and has given back to the rec center for years,” said McCorkle.  

McCorkle says he connected with community leader Kanika Brown about the idea and she worked her magic to get the ball rolling with including Howard’s name on the court. McCorkle says he is very thankful for Brown’s work and involvement in the matter.