I hope no one shows Kobe a video of Dwight Howard’s first Lakers press conference, because Dwight’s clown act was on full display.
That included an impression of Kobe from Dwight that the media found quite amusing.
Kobe isn’t laughing.
In the end, Howard needed the Lakers and Bryant. And yes – for now and the future – Bryant and the Lakers needed Howard. The trade was completed on Friday and Howard gets the bright lights, big city and a championship chase with the Lakers. Howard gets his Showtime, but make no mistake: Howard comes without leverage in the locker room and doesn’t have the latitude to revert back to his old class-clown self.
“I think that changes just by the pressure that he’s under now,” Bryant told Yahoo! Sports late Friday night “That pressure is on us all. We have to win championships. The focus will be higher, the intensity will be higher.”
When the time comes rest assured Bryant will make something clear: The carnival act ends now. The clowning and goofing are done. During games, players used to hear Kevin Garnett screaming at Howard: “Paint your face, clown!” up and down the floor.
“I’ll play two or three more years, and then the team is his,” Bryant said.
While I do believe Kobe needs to dial back a bit on the court, I agree with him about Howard adjusting his personality. It is time for Dwight to grow up and realize if he wants to be a champion he has to stop acting like a court jester. He isn’t fooling anyone anymore. We know he is a fraud and liar. We know about the multiple baby mamas and the kids he is hiding. We know behind that smile there is an emotional unstable person.
Dwight said he isn’t going to change, but he isn’t the one with the 5 rings, so it will be up to him to adjust to the Kobe, not the other way around.
