Cops: Uninsured Dwight Howard caught speeding morning of playoff loss

Atlanta Hawks Dwight Howard, who did not play in the fourth quarter, sits on the bench in a 115-99 loss to the Washington Wizards in game 6 of playoff series on Friday, April 28, 2017, in Atlanta. Howard was stopped by police for speeding after the game.

Atlanta Hawks Dwight Howard, who did not play in the fourth quarter, sits on the bench in a 115-99 loss to the Washington Wizards in game 6 of playoff series on Friday, April 28, 2017, in Atlanta. Howard was stopped by police for speeding after the game.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated with the correct time of the incident, 2:06 a.m. on Friday, April 28, the morning before the Hawks' final playoff game. The previous version incorrectly stated the incident happened after the game.

The Washington Wizards ended the Atlanta Hawks' season on April 28 – beating them 115-99 in Game 6 of the playoffs – but the morning of that game, highly paid Hawks' center Dwight Howard went for a drive.

Howard was pulled over by police in Dunwoody that Friday morning. A few minutes later, an officer had the eight-time NBA All-Star’s car towed.

A police report states that Howard, 31, was pulled over for speeding in the wee hours of the morning on April 28. Police found that he was driving on a suspended registration and without insurance.

At 2:06 a.m. that morning an officer saw a blue car speeding on westbound I-285 near Chamblee-Dunwoody Road. The car, traveling at 95 mph in a 65 mph zone, was being followed by a black SUV, police said. It was later discovered by police that the SUV was driven by Howard’s security guard.

The officer pulled the car – a 2016 Audi Rs7 – over on I-285 at Ashford-Dunwoody Road, police said.

After the officer ran Howard’s driver license and tag number through the National Crime Information Center, the car came up as having a suspended registration with no insurance, police said. When the officer told Howard what he found, Howard seemed “confused” and insisted that he had insurance, but couldn’t provide an insurance card when police asked for it.

The officer wrote Howard a ticket for his lack of insurance and then gave the 6-foot-11 center a verbal warning for speeding and suspended registration. Brown and Brown Towing towed the vehicle, police said.

A Hawks spokesman declined to comment Monday on the incident involving Howard.

Howard was mostly neutralized in the Hawks' opening round exit from the postseason as he tallied just nine points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes of play in Game 6. In the Atlanta native's first season with the Hawks he scored 13.5 points per game, his lowest average since his rookie season.

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