‘Good guy honoring Kobe Bryant’: Lakers’ Dwight Howard turned down six-figure shoe deal to keep his ‘Kobes’

Howard was reportedly offered a 6-figure shoe deal by an unknown manufacturer in February. He turned this offer down in order to be able to wear Kobes for the rest of the season.

Dwight Howard may not have been on the best of terms with Kobe Bryant during their time together. But this didn’t prevent him from paying his own little tribute.

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The former 3-time Defensive Player of the Year was one of those who lost to Kobe Bryant in the playoffs. The Magic lost 4-1 to the Lakers in the 2009 NBA Finals when led by Howard.

Dwight Howard explains why he turned down shoe deal

Shoe deals are normally worth seven figures even for relatively unknown NBA players. The likes of DeAndre Ayton and Michael Porter Jr have deals with Puma worth those amounts.

But Dwight Howard being offered an even lower amount possibly had to do with his diminishing popularity. It therefore, probably didn’t move his earnings needle by much.

A few fans did point out that while the gesture was great, probably Dwight was offended by the amount he was being offered.

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Dwight Howard passed on 6-figure sneaker deal offers back in February because he wanted to continue wearing Kobes, per @NickDePaula pic.twitter.com/qjcxwXlxpG

— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) October 1, 2020

@DwightHoward Much respect ✊ Tells a lot about your character! Real men do real things! #LakerNation# #RIP 🐐

— Nirunda Coakley (@NirundaC) October 1, 2020

Howard has earned over $200 million in salaries alone through the course of his NBA career. He previously had a shoe deal with Adidas during his peak years.

The brand was able to market the two biggest MVP candidates for the 2010-11 NBA season in a tandem. Both of them have, ever since that year, significantly scaled down both in terms of on-court impact and in the public eye.

Howard became a shoe free agent at the start of last season after his deal with Chinese company Peak came to an end.