During his NBA career, Dwight Howard has played alongside many talented players including two of the best – Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
Dwight played with both talents at different stages during his time with the Lakers and the way they approached the game couldn’t have been more stark, Howard explained on the My Expert Opinion podcast.
“LeBron’s almost at like somebody from the south side of Georgia,” Howard said. “We actin’ kind of like twins. Joking, silly, have a good time. We get on the court, we still gonna have a good time but we’re gonna dominate. Kobe, he not bullsh*tting with nobody. He might not come to the locker room to talk. So he’s just gonna walk all the way past us.”
Like Kobe and LeBron’s attitudes, Howard’s career was in a very different place when he teamed up with the two of them.
Dwight signed with LA in the summer of 2012 – a team that included Kobe – and fans were buzzing with anticipation because he seemed to be just the piece they needed to take it to that next level and win a ring.
But Bryant’s work ethic somewhat clashed with Dwight’s easy-going attitude and the team only ended up winning 45 games that season.
They managed to reach the playoffs as the seventh seed, only to be swept by the Spurs in the first round.
Dwight has the hindsight to see what Kobe was trying to achieve. During the podcast he acknowledged that he now understands Kobe was only trying to bring out the best in an unfocused veteran team.
As for when Dwight played with Bron, it wasn’t until 2019 after Howard went through a rough patch and was ultimately humbled by it.
He had also become much more of a role player so was more open to letting someone else like LeBron run the show, which helped them to win the 2020 championship in the bubble.
As for Dwight’s basketball career as it stands, he is reportedly wanting to play for the Lakers again, so only time will tell if we see him back in an NBA jersey once more.