Dwight Howard is nearing the end of his career but that doesn't mean he can't make an impact in the NBA. As of right now, Howard is on a short-term contract with the Los Angeles Lakers and as of right now, this is his second stint with the franchise. Howard played with the Lakers at the start of the decade but his tenure was marred by bad relationships with Kobe Bryant and some injuries. He joined the team when they were at the beginning of a downward spiral towards the bottom of the league and some fans still have a bad taste in their mouth about it.
Bryant has been pretty open about Howard and his frustrations with him at times. Despite this, Kobe still has a ton of respect for Dwight and in an interview with Arash Markazi of the Los Angeles Times, the five-time NBA Champion spoke about what Howard can accomplish in LA this year.
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“I’m happy for him because sometimes we don’t realize how much we love the game and miss the game until that window starts closing or its closed,” Bryant said. “Then you’re like, ‘Oh damn, I really miss playing the game. I want another opportunity to show what I can do.’ Sometimes you don’t know if that opportunity will ever come again. For him, I really believe he’s appreciative of the opportunity and I think he’s going to make a hell of an impact because of the new appreciation he has for playing the game.”
The Lakers are one of the frontrunners to win it all this year so maybe Kobe is on to something here. Howard has a huge opportunity to prove his worth and could end up being a difference-maker on this team.