Dwight Powell is a Canadian who was born in Toronto, Canada. However, he spent his last three years of high school at the famed prep school IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. At IMG, Powell developed into one of the best power forwards in his high school class and was considered a five-star prospect by multiple recruiting websites.

As a senior at IMG, Powell averaged 23.2 points, 11.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.3 blocks per game.

Powell attended Stanford University, playing four seasons under head coach Johnny Dawkins. As a freshman, Powell started 26 of 31 games, averaging 8.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, being named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team. However, the Cardinal was just 15-16 and failed to qualify for the postseason. As a sophomore, Powell started just 11 of 35 games. His numbers declined, averaging 5.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, although he contributed to Stanford winning the NIT.

During his junior season, Powell took a big step forward. He started all 34 games for Stanford, seeing his numbers leap to 14.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Despite the Cardinal finishing 19-15 and getting knocked out in the second round of the NIT, Powell earned First-Team All-Pac 12 honors and was named the league’s most-improved player. He returned for his senior season and was once again First-Team All-Pac 12 after averaging 14 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. More importantly, Powell was one of the most important players on a Stanford team that led the Cardinal to the NCAA Tournament and an appearance in the Sweet 16 after an upset of Kansas in the Round of 32.

The Charlotte Hornets made Powell the 45th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. However, the first year or two of Powell’s career was a whirlwind. A little more than two weeks after the draft, Powell was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who turned around and traded him to the Boston Celtics in September. Powell played the first five games of his NBA career with the Celtics before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks in December 2014 as a throw-in piece in the trade that also sent Rajon Rondo to the Mavericks. He ended up playing 24 games for the Mavericks as a rookie while also spending time with the Texas Legends of the G League.

Things started to pick up for Powell in his second NBA season. Early in the 2015-16 campaign, he recorded the first double-double of his NBA career. He went on to play 69 games, including two starts, for Dallas that season, averaging 5.8 points and four rebounds per game. Both his minutes and productivity increased slowly but surely over the next several years, culminating in Powell averaging 10.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game during the 2019-20 season. It was enough to earn Powell a three-year, $33 million extension in the summer of 2019, keeping him with the Mavericks through the 2022-23 season. Unfortunately, his career hit a bump in the road in January 2020 when he tore his Achilles tendon, an injury that required Powell to undergo surgery.