The first big day of Stephen Howard's professional basketball career came in early November, when he made the Jazz's opening-day roster. The second was last week when he survived Mark Eaton's return from the injured list. Instead of waiving Howard, the Jazz cut guard Tim Legler.
But there's one more major hurdle to clear before he has even a hint of job security. "January 10th," says Howard decisively. "That's the next target date. Until then I'm just living day by day, minute by minute."Howard's plight as the 12th man on the roster isn't much different than any other 12th man in the league. They come, they hang on, they say their prayers every night. But if he makes it to Jan. 10 without being waived, his league-minimum $140,000 salary will be guaranteed through the remainder of the season.
Being the last man on the roster isn't a prestigious position by NBA standards. They are usually rookies, which means they carry baggage, fly economy and shag balls at practice. Twelfth men never get any respect.
Being last in the pecking order is fine with Howard. He considers his time in the NBA somewhat of a bonus. The son of high school educators in Dallas - his mother teaches high school French and reading, his father is a counselor - Howard's biggest aspiration was to earn an academic scholarship to college.
"It wasn't until my freshman or sophomore year in college that I ever even had any aspirations of playing pro ball," says Howard. "I used to say when I was a kid, `Oh, that would be neat to play in the NBA,' but I wasn't like a lot of kids who say, `That's it. I'm going to play basketball no matter what.' "
In the absence of former Jazzman Walter Palmer, a Dartmouth graduate and the team's ranking scholar the year he was with the team, the Jazz now have Howard. He is soft-spoken and well-educated. An A and B student in high school and at DePaul, he carried a business major and an English minor. Besides making the All-Great Midwest Conference first team, he was named an Academic All-American.
"My parents were more excited about making Academic All-America than they were about all my other awards," says Howard.
Howard takes his schooling seriously indeed. He spent many hours in college visiting secondary schools, encouraging young people to get an education. DePaul officials marveled at Howard's willingness to make appearances. "A lot of kids don't have the strong family background and encouragement I had. I grew up to look up to my parents, not to a lot of athletes," he says.
Howard wasn't completely obilivious, though, to the basketball stars in his back yard while growing up. A high school All-Stater in Dallas, he admired the Mavericks when they were good - during the Mark Aguirre, Sam Perkins era. "Back before they started trading all their talent away," says Howard.
But eventually, when the Mavs started losing games, he started losing interest. However, the Mavericks will have his full attention Tuesday night. That's when the Mavs make their first visit of the year to the Delta Center.
After being invited to the Jazz summer league, Howard played well enough to get a return appointment in the fall. He worked out in Dallas during the summer with Mavericks' assistant coach Clifford Ray and Dallas guard Derek Harper.
Although the word was the Jazz wanted to find an off-guard to replace Cory Crowder, he ended up beating out Legler for the final spot. He remains the only player on the roster without a guaranteed contract. "I guess in the NBA you can never have too many big men," he says. "I can play the three and four positions, so I guess that helped."
Scott Layden, the Jazz's director of basketball operations, says the Jazz liked his shooting touch and the smooth way he plays. "You forget he's 6-foot-10," says Layden. "He's such a fluid guy, you tend to forget he's as big as he is."
However, Howard has had few chances to show off his shooting touch and moves. He played in six of 12 Jazz games, averaging 1.2 points, one rebound and 4.3 minutes playing time.
Although he didn't score, Saturday night's appearance against Houston may have been Howard's best performance. Coach Jerry Sloan dispatched Howard to guard Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon briefly, and though Howard didn't stop the Dream, he wasn't made to look like a fool, either.
Howard finished with a rebound, an assist and two personal fouls in nine minutes. "He did an excellent job," said Sloan. "He wasn't afraid, and he's going to have some playing time. Every time we put him out on the floor, it seems something positive happens for him."
Howard says being the 12th man, he can't expect much more playing time. His game plan for now is to play hard and mark off the calendar until Jan. 10. Says Howard, "I just try to be ready for when the time comes."