A Rundown of Dwight Howard’s Five Children, Their Mamas, and the Drama
The father of five welcomed children with five different women during his prime, sometimes twice in the same year. Learn more about his children.
By Zaniah BoykinSept. 4 2024, Published 11:05 a.m. ET
Basketball star Dwight Howard is well known for his decorated career in the NBA and even more for being in petty baby mama drama.
Famous for his time as a player for the Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, and five other teams, the athlete has a child for almost every year he was traded.
The three-time defensive player of the year fathered five children with five different women so far — but is dedicated to being the best father he can be. Despite his initial unconventional approach to becoming a father, he has proven to be great at the role and dotes on his children.
Dwight has three sons and two daughters, read on to learn more about them!
Dwight's oldest son Braylon Howard was born in 2007.
Braylon is the love child of the tumultuous relationship between Dwight and his then-girlfriend, former Orlando Magic cheerleader and Basketball Wives star Royce Reed.
After a fallout that led to their separation, the parents spent years in and out of court fighting over custody of Braylon. The rift leads to a dysfunctional relationship between father and son.
He took to Instagram to call out his father for not being present and Dwight responded with hurt feelings. Later on in life, Braylon was accused of engaging in inappropriate behavior with a minor, which led to his mother being charged with felony child neglect for letting it happen.
Royce was able to avoid jail time by completing community service. After such negative headlines, Braylon spent the majority of his childhood out of the limelight to grow into a young man.
Dwight’s oldest daughter Layla Howards was born in 2010.
Layla is the oldest daughter of Dwight and her mother Tiffany Render, who was born in October 2010.
Initially, Dwight was granted temporary custody of his daughter and ordered to pay $3,000 a month in child support. However, in November 2023 he pursued primary custody of her because he felt that Tiffany was not able to provide a suitable environment for the safety of his then-teenager.
The courts ruled in his favor, and she was able to grow up with her father.
His daughter Jayde Howard was also born in 2010.
Yes, you read that right, Dwight welcomed two daughters by two different women in 2010. Jayde was born in December to a Canadian Fitness model named Hope Alexa.
Not much more is known about Jayde.
Dwight III was born in 2013.
Dwight Howard III, affectionately known as Trey, was born on June 13th, 2013, and his mother is Christine Vest. Though he is kept out of the limelight his father still gushes about him.
David Howard was born in 2013.
David was born the same year as his slightly older brother on December 15th, 2013.
Unfortunately, his mother, Melissa Rios who was a real estate agent, tragically died after an epileptic seizure in 2020. She and Dwight dated before David’s birth, and Dwight promised to take good care of him for the rest of his life.
"It’s extremely difficult for me to try to understand how to talk to my son who’s six years old just about the whole situation," dwight said at the time. "Something I’ve never experienced. So I wouldn’t know how to talk to my son about it. So just with him being here and stuff like that, it’s kind of given me some extra life."
