“He was acting like he had gum, like Michael Jordan would come out” – Former NBA champion reminisces moments with Kobe Bryant in Vegas, says watching him as a kid to playing on his team was a dream come true
Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard had an awkward and often contentious relationship during their time with the LA Lakers. Bryant’s no-holds-barred approach to everything basketball often clashed with Howard’s laid-back personality.
As testy as their dynamic was on the court, there were also moments of lightheartedness that “Superman” fondly recalled. On the "All The Smoke" podcast, Howard said:
“I always messed with Bryant. Before the game, when they introduced him, how he would try to chew gum, but it was no gum in his mouth, but he was acting like he had gum, like Michael Jordan would come out. So I'm like, 'Yo, are you trying to act like Jordan?'”
The three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner continued on Kobe:
“It was crazy, just as a kid watching Kobe play and then, coming out of high school, Kobe dunking on you, Olympics with Kobe and then you on Kobe's team and then y'all arguing with each other and all that is still even a dream.”
Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard first got to know each other during the summer of 2008. The US Olympic team, headed by “The Black Mamba” and LeBron James, were trying to win back the gold after the 2004 debacle.
Bryant was the captain and leader of that legendary team. Howard, on the other hand, was the young and emerging center who was putting up MVP-caliber numbers. Although they were teammates, they didn’t get to know each other well until the 2012-13 NBA season.
Howard and Bryant’s only season together in Hollywood can be described in one word - chaotic. It was a stacked team that had the aforementioned two superstars, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash, Metta World Peace and Antawn Jamison.
In 2012, the Lakers assembled the Big 3 of Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, and Dwight Howard.
Lakers coach Mike Brown was seen as a great man for the job, having coached LeBron in Cleveland for 6 years.
L.A. went 0-8 in the preseason and started the season 1-4 when Brown was fired. https://t.co/puvOUbgQAd
But despite all that talent, they struggled badly for most of the season. The Lakers fired Mike Brown five games into the season and replaced him with Mike D’Antoni. The coaching change didn’t make much of a difference as the underlying tension between Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard was simply too much to ignore.
Despite their star-studded lineup, they limped to a 45-37 record and grabbed a playoff spot only via a tiebreaker.
9 YEARS AGO TODAY
Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles, knocked down 2 clutch FTS then walked off the floor in a win over the Warriors. Lakers trainer Gary Vitti said this was Kobe's “gutsiest moment.”
Kobe also hyperextended his knee earlier in the game & was nursing a sprained ankle. https://t.co/ojdXrfyLvv
Kobe Bryant played 78 games that season. He tore his Achilles in his last game, which signaled the start of his decline. Dwight Howard signed with the Houston Rockets in the offseason while “KB24” eventually enjoyed a farewell season with the Lakers in 2016.
Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard got along better off the court than on it
The on-court clashes between Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard were real, but that didn’t stop them from becoming friends off of it. When “KB24” tore his Achilles tendon in 2013, Howard, upon failing to see Bryant in the hospital, visited his house later.
In the “All The Smoke” podcast, Howard opened up a little bit more about his relationship with the late legend:
“I remember going to his house one time and he liked the movie Pitch Perfect and so I'm like, 'get the f**k out of here', I'm like, ain't no way. You watch all crazy a** movies killing people, but you like Pitch Perfect.'
“Just like I don't care what people say. Like me and Kobe connected. I look back at all the pictures I got to him and just me and him together. Just talking all the sh*t that doesn't happen between me and him.”
Part 1 of Dwight Howard's comments on the death of teammate and friend Kobe Bryant.
#LakeShow https://t.co/5JFdKbuHW8