Dwight Howard’s already ugly split with Amy Luciani has taken another sharp turn, with a Georgia judge granting the former NBA star a protective order against his estranged wife as their divorce fight keeps spiraling in public.
According to Us Weekly’s report, the order was signed on Tuesday, April 7, and requires Luciani, whose legal name is Amber Howard, to stay 100 yards away from Howard and two of his children. She is also barred from going near Howard’s Georgia mansion and the children’s private school, and cannot contact them by phone or social media.
The filing lays out a series of disturbing allegations. Howard claimed Luciani came to his home on April 5 for the first time in six weeks and “threatened to punch” him in the throat. He also alleged that she “threatened to kill whoever was in the car” with him and had “devised a plan” aimed at making him lose custody of his daughter.
Howard also told the court that Luciani damaged his reputation by accusing him on social media in March of being abusive and a drug addict, allegations he says cost him money and business deals. In the petition, he further claimed that he and his children are now “afraid to be around her.”
The accusations did not stop there. Howard alleged Luciani had shown a broader “pattern of behavior,” describing her as obsessive, excessively jealous, and controlling. He also checked boxes in the filing alleging that she had threatened him with a deadly weapon, and that she had killed, injured or threatened pets. He additionally claimed she has a history of substance abuse and becomes violent when “drunk or high.”
The judge’s order gives Howard sole and exclusive use of the mansion they shared, along with temporary possession of a 2015 Mercedes, at least for now. A hearing on the protective order is scheduled for Monday, April 13, which means this story is far from over.
The latest development lands in the middle of a divorce and custody fight that has already been getting messier by the week. Howard and Amber Rose Howard, better known publicly as Amy Luciani, both filed for divorce on March 9, just over a year after marrying on January 11, 2025.
That same broader fallout has included multiple police visits to Howard’s Suwanee, Georgia home in March for what authorities described as a suicide threat, a domestic incident and a theft report. PEOPLE also reported that Howard told police Luciani stole jewelry, his wedding ring, phones, personal documents and nearly $20,000 in cash from his car.
At the same time, another legal fight has been playing out around Howard’s daughter Layla. His ex Tiffany Render filed for an emergency custody order in March, citing concerns about Layla’s mental health and safety, though the court denied that request and said it did not view the matter as an emergency.
So now the picture around Howard is even more volatile: a divorce, a custody battle, past police calls, and now a court-backed protective order involving his estranged wife. The next real turning point will likely come on April 13, when the court hears more on whether this temporary order holds or opens the door to an even uglier legal war