“They’re all a blessing to me,” Dwight Howard once said about his kids. He loves fatherhood. He has had the best time of his life while playing in the NBA, winning several accolades, including five NBA rebounding leader honors and eight NBA All-Star appearances. However, the most precious moment in his life is when his child says, “I love you, Daddy.” The basketball legend puts his heart into being present for his kids. While there have been accusations against him for failing to provide child support, he continues to contribute to his five kids from five different women.

Braylon Howard

He had his first child with his ex-girlfriend Royce Reed, who was a former cheerleader for the Orlando Magic. Their son, Braylon, was born on Nov. 18, 2007. Reed had accused Howard of not paying child support. However, making an appearance on The Gauds Show, the basketball legend clarified that he had paid nearly $13,000 per month in child support. 

While he didn’t mention names, Howard hinted at it quite clearly when he said that he had stopped paying after his son turned 18. Since Braylon, who is 17 now, is the only one who fits the age group, the statement was likely about him.

“My son’s mom, that was $13,000 a month from the time my son was born. Let’s do the math on that…This is what I did for her when he first was born. You take the money and you go buy a Dan studio that has nothing to do with your child,” Howard said on the show.

If he had paid the same amount for 17 years, Howard would have paid nearly $2.4 million in child support for his one child. 

Layla Howard 

His second child is Layla Howard. She was born to his ex-girlfriend Tiffany Render in 2010. Reed had primary custody of their son Braylon, and Tiffany also had primary custody of the 15-year-old. As per sources, he was paying $12,000 in child support to Render for his daughter. At the time, he was earning millions from his deals. His last year with the Lakers paid him $2.6 million.

Later, when there was a drop in his income, Howard made a legal request to lower his child support payment, which was granted and changed to $3,000. Much later, Howard sought full custody of his daughter. 

The reason cited was his ex-girlfriend’s failure to inform the basketball legend before suddenly moving from Georgia to Florida. He also expressed his displeasure with Render’s parenting skills.

Jayde Howard

The same year as Layla’s birth, Howard welcomed his third child, Jayde, with fitness model Hope Alexa. “Everybody help me wish my daughter Jayde a Happy Birthday 🎊❤️” he wrote to wish his daughter. Howard also took his two daughters on a trip to Thailand along with his fiancée, Amy Luciani. The trip was also to celebrate his daughter’s birthday. 

It’s unknown how much Howard pays Alexa for child support. However, considering the child support payments he was making for his first two kids, it gives us an idea of how much he must have been paying for Jayde. 

And since there was a change in Layla’s child support payment, a drop in value for Jayde can be assumed. “It’s a tough situation, obviously. I should have been more responsible … But I won’t look at any of them as a mistake. They’re all a blessing to me,” Howard once said about his kids in an interview with SI in 2017

Dwight III 

In 2013, Howard’s fourth child, his son, Trey (Dwight III), was born to Christine Vest. Trey has mostly been kept out of the limelight with rare appearances, so not much is known about how much Howard pays in child support. Trey was Howard’s biggest supporter when he decided to join the celebrity competition show, Dancing With The Stars.

“Really, for my son, he’s here in the audience, Trey Howard. I always tell him that you can do all things through Christ … You can do anything you put your mind to, man,” Howard said about his son in the show.

Back in 2022, Jayde joined her father and brother Trey on Howard’s trip when he was playing in Taiwan. The trio also went to Tokyo and the Philippines. 

David Howard

Howard’s youngest son, David, was born in 2013, just a few months after Trey’s birth. Little David was only 6 years old when his mother, Melissa Rios, passed away from an epileptic seizure in early 2020. This was hard on the father of five.

“With just with him being here and stuff like that, it’s kind of given me some extra life…I really just had to try to explain it to him in the best way possible. But even the fact that he’s still young, he still wouldn’t be able to understand. So I’m just trying to find ways to bring analogies to life and his mom, and how she’ll always be here with us,” the former Los Angeles Lakers player said.

Since then, primary custody of David has been given to Howard. The 3x DPOY also tries to be more present for his son. So, rather than paying child support, he has taken full responsibility for his youngest. It can be assumed that he has paid nearly $10 million for his kids. Regardless of how much he has paid, Howard’s efforts in being a better father to his kids is the most important!