Dwight Howard ended up winning a championship with the Lakers, but when he first traded there from the Magic in 2012 he wasn’t happy at all.
The Lakers were trying to form a mega-talented team, since the team had Howard, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Metta World Peace, and Pau Gasol on the roster.
Many were touting the combination of Howard and Kobe to be the next big thing.
So, there were a lot of expectations that Howard didn’t vibe with.
“It’s difficult playing with Kobe,” Howard said recently on Gils Arena. “One, it’s an expectation of winning, and then two, everybody expected me and Kobe to be the new Kobe and Shaq,” Howard said. “I’m just coming off injury, I’m still dealing with all the mental s–t from being in Orlando, and now I gotta go to LA and play with Kobe Bryant. I watched him play, they beat us in the Finals. One, I was already pissed cause I had to go to LA, nobody ever knew that I didn’t want to go to LA.”
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The big man had his sights set on another team.
I wanted to beat the Lakers, they had just beat us in the Finals so in my mind I’m like ‘Why would I go to the team that just beat us?’ I wanted to go to Brooklyn and just start my whole career over but I got sent to LA,” Howard said. “It didn’t work out, and I made an emotional decision to leave… I didn’t really make a smart, logical decision, I just made an emotional decision at the time.”
The Lakers mega-team only lasted one season, since Howard signed with the Rockets a season later.
However, Dwight returned to LA on a vet’s minimum contract and won a championship alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.