“When People Say Kobe Bryant Don’t F*ck With You Like That, I Just Laugh”: Dwight Howard Clears the Air on His Relationship With The Mamba

Kobe Bryant wasn’t a friendly guy when he had an active NBA career and no one knows it better than Dwight Howard

It is well known that Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant did not have a very good relationship when the former joined The Black Mamba in 2012 in Los Angeles.

Although Bryant is pretty infamous for not having great relationships with his teammates, Howard’s personality had a lot to do with Kobe’s bitterness towards him.

But if the 3x Defensive Player of the Year is to be believed, he rocked with the Lakers’ legend as much as anyone could, and he has countless memories to show for it. One of which he recently remembered in his appearance on All The Smoke podcast.

Also read: When Kobe Bryant Punched His Teammate for $100 So Hard, Shaquille O’Neal’s Crew Had to Intervene

Dwight Howard finally opens up about his relationship with Kobe Bryant

Talking with Matt Barnes who had his own separate one of a kind story with Bryant, and Stephen Jackson on their popular podcast, the former Lakers big man came across Kobe and his greatness.

While announcing that his former teammate is the most skilled player ever, Dwight reminisced their relationship and how it is not how people perceive it to be.

“Off the court, we had sometimes together in Vegas where we had some parties just chilling, and you see Kobe in a different light. We just talking and kicking the s**t, you know.” Howard started.

He continued, “I remember going to his house one time, and he liked that movie Pitch Perfect. And so, he’s like, ‘you seen that movie Pitch Perfect?’ And I’m like ‘yeah, I like that movie.’ And he’s like ‘yeah, I like it too.’ I’m like ‘man, get the f**k outta here, you don’t like, no Pitch Perfect. Ain’t no way, I’m thinking, you watch all these crazy a** type movies about killing people.”

The man never gave this talk any attention whatsoever for so long, shows how less he cares about what people say and how it was fundamentally different from his actual relationship with Kobe.

What is the story around Kobe’s hate for Howard?

The 6’10 sheer muscle of a human, Howard was one of the most dominant forces in the NBA in the late 2000s. Since coming in as the 1st pick in 2004, the high school graduate from Atlanta started taking the league by storm, by his second year.

Before joining the Lakers in 2012 he had 6 All-Star appearances, 5x All NBA First Team selections, 3x DPOYs, 5 rebounding, and 3 blocks title. Yet, Kobe didn’t like his arrival plainly because of his attitude which was too soft for such a dominant player.

Also read: Coach K Played Mind Games to Entice Kobe Bryant Against Manu Ginobili

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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