The gym at the William Walker Recreation Center in Ben Hill was staged for a classic homecoming pep rally. Music boomed over the PA system. Kids packed every seat in the bleachers and waved homemade signs. As their cheers caromed to every corner of the gym, down below on the floor, cheerleaders flipped and cartwheeled acrobatically.
Moments later, Dwight Howard stepped down through the bleachers and into a hometown hero's welcome as the newest member of the Atlanta Hawks.
"I'm just happy to be home," Howard said. "This place right here, this building, is where I spent a lot of time working on my game."
Howard recalled the arduous hours he spent prepping for the NBA.
"Just being in this building brings back chills," he said. "This area right here was home for me. My school was two minutes away. Every morning at 4:00, myself, my dad and my cousin ran out in the back on the track trying to make it to the NBA."
The Hawks were equally pleased to welcome the eight-time NBA All-Star. Head Coach Mike Budenholzer expressed his eagerness to incorporate the 6-foot-11 center into the team's core.
"I can't say how right the timing feels," Budenholzer said of adding the three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year. "We are so excited – and I am personally so excited – to work with a player as gifted as Dwight."
Budenholzer was also there to pat Howard on the back when Howard got emotional speaking about his family, many of whom were sitting in the first few rows. While Budenholzer remarked about the basketball timing, Howard said that he was happy that he could come home to family at a juncture in his life when it would mean the most to him.
"My family, all of us were so close," Howard said. "I've been in the NBA for a while. Once I left, I think that I kind of grew up and grew away from a lot of the people that were around me as a child."
But if Howard, drafted straight out of high school as a teenager, left Atlanta as a kid, he made his homecoming Wednesday as a man.
"Now that I'm able to come back home, we can all grow together," Howard said. "As I said before, timing is everything. Right now, I want to spend my time with my family and win."
Howard also touched repeatedly on the fact that he had been moved by the warm reception of his future teammates and coaches, including Paul Millsap, Kent Bazemore and Budenholzer.
"Me and Bud had a conversation that was supposed to be 10 minutes, and it ended up being over two hours," he said. "We had a great conversation. After that, me and my agent went across the street to eat. I got in the car and I was like, 'Man, I don't need to meet with anybody else. I don't need to see anybody else. I'm going to Atlanta.'"
The Hawks and Howard finally made the natural connection that had eluded them in years past. General Manager Wes Wilcox said that the Hawks had tried to sign Howard three years earlier. And Howard said that his original NBA fantasy involved playing for the home team.
"Before I got drafted, my dream was to play and get drafted to the Hawks," Howard said. "Unfortunately, it didn't happen at that time. But throughout the years, life shaped me and molded me into the person and the player that I am today to where playing at home now will be greater than it would have been at the time I got drafted."
The 30-year-old revealed that he will wear jersey number 8 for the first time in his career after wearing number 12 for his first 12 NBA seasons. He added that his ultimate goal is to win a championship, a tall task for sure, but one that he embraces wholeheartedly.
"I'm super motivated," he said. "My body feels great. I think these years can be my greatest years, so I'm looking forward to it.”
Story by KL ChouinardTwitter: @KLChouinard