Dwight Howard played with some of the NBA's greatest during his 18 years in the league. This included seasons with LeBron and Kobe during Howard's multiple stints with the Lakers. Howard played with Kobe during the 2012-13 season and with LeBron during the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons.
During a recent appearance on My Expert Opinion, Howard broke down the vibes each legendary player gave off as a teammate. “LeBron almost act like someone from the south side of Georgia,” Howard said. “We act kinda like twins — joking, silly, have a good time. We get on the court, we still gonna have a good time but we’re gonna dominate. Kobe ain’t bullshitting with nobody, he might not come in the locker room and talk, and everybody like, ‘So, he just gonna walk all the way past us, not dap nobody up, give a head nod or nothing? He’s just walked past us," Howard noted.
Howard Reflects On Kobe And LeBron Partnerships
However, Howard's comments weren't intended as a knock against Kobe. “As I got older, I started to realize more of how he [Kobe] felt,” Howard said. “And as a young ballplayer, you’re not seeing that. You think the game lasts forever. When you get older, you see I ain’t got the same amount of time and energy to put into this, that, and the third. It seemed like we fell out, but it wasn’t really like we fell out, we just had some disagreements on the court, like any other team and any other teammate.”
Despite this, it's not the first time in recent months that Kobe's mentality has been brought up. Charles Barkley recently used it to explain why he didn't think Kobe would have been a good fit for Inside the NBA. "I don’t know if he was built to have fun,” he said. “He was a great person, I liked him, rest in peace. But like, he was a real serious guy. And the problem you have, if you’re gonna do our show, I don’t think people understand, we’re on from seven to two in the morning. Nobody wants to be damn serious from seven to two in the morning, ok?," Barkley told the New Heights podcast.
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