Using $100,000,000 Production To Explain Getting Dunked On By Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard Pokes Fun At Himself For His 3 DPOY Wins

Dwight Howard parted ways with the Orlando Magic after eight seasons to join Kobe Bryant at the Los Angeles Lakers. At the time, while Kobe established himself as one of the game’s greatest guards of all time, Howard was among the premier defensive presence in the league. Even though they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the 2012 playoffs, the Bryant-Howard duo was very entertaining. However, long before they shared the same locker room together, Bryant dunked crudely on the big man in his rookie season, presenting him with his ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment. 19 years on from it, the former three-time Defensive Player of the Year uses a $100,000,000 movie reference to troll himself.

Fans often debate whether or not Dwight Howard is a first-ballot Hall-Of-Famer or not. What people often forget is that the Orlando Magic version of Howard was beyond dominant. Apart from asserting his dominance in the paint, the 6-foot-10 Center would crash the boards like no one else.

Admittedly, the Magic as a whole were unable to achieve too much, with the team only reaching the finals once. But during that playoff run, the Magic comfortably defeated the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Even though the Florida side ultimately lost to the Lakers, Dwight takes immense pride in the fact that he deprived fans of a Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James matchup in the Finals.

Dwight Howard trolls himself using a Spider-Man reference

Dwight Howard has gone on somewhat of a social media spree. Honoring Kobe Bryant on his birthday, Howard posted several photos and clips of his former teammate. In his latest reel, the 37-year-old even took a dig at himself. The former Lakers star revealed that he still had a picture of the time Kobe dunked on him in 2004. However, he also mentions that getting caught in the poster was what motivated him to then win three straight Defensive Player of the Year awards.

@daydrianharding_ asked me why I have this picture of Kobe dunking on me hanging up with all my other pictures 🥴… that was a canon event 🙂 I told him that was what drove me to become the defender I was in the NBA 💯 After that wasn’t no one dunking on Dwight DPOY Howard 😤 #nba #basketball #legend #ripkobe

The ‘canon event’ that the former eight-time All-Star is referring to is a reference from the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse movie. The latest Spider-Man movie, which had a production budget of $100,000,000, used this terminology. It was used to refer to an unavoidable event that led to personal development.

If he is calling the iconic poster a ‘canon moment’, the former #1 Draft pick is essentially giving credit to the Black Mamba for all of his defensive accolades. Yet another win for Kobe Bryant.

Kobe Bryant and Howard had a rift in their relationship

Dwight Howard parted ways with the Purple & Gold after merely playing for a single season. Even when they were teammates, despite their dominance, the duo never quite got along. Eventually, when Howard joined the Houston Rockets, their meetings would consistently be a heated affair.

Apart from elbowing each other, the 6-foot-6 Shooting Guard called Superman all sorts of things – “soft” and “teddy bear”. While addressing their fractured relationship, Bryant revealed that the big man was expecting a laid-back culture. Instead, he seemed to have gotten uncomfortable with the environment of the locker room.