Orlando Magic All-Star center Dwight Howard acknowledged Friday that he has become a first-time father of a baby boy born recently in Orlando.

Howard, 22, told the Orlando Sentinel after the team's shootaround in Denver that he was the boy's father.

"I'm not going to deny it. Yes, I have a son," Howard said. "It's just my personal life. Yes, I'm excited about it, but I'd like to keep my personal life personal."

The mother is Royce Reed, a former Orlando Magic dancer.

Juanita Reed, Royce Reed's mother, said the baby Braylon was born Nov. 18 in Orlando, three weeks early.