Kobe wants Dwight Howard to stop clowning around, but Dwight doesn’t know how to act any other way. People may not like Kobe Bryant, but no one questions his desire to be great and his work ethic.
That is what gets him the respect from peers and fans alike, but I don’t think anyone respects Dwight Howard right now, on or off the court.
Here is just a latest example why from Larry Brown Sports.
Amid other reports that the Lakers’ chilly on-court chemistry was spilling into the locker room, we’re told that Howard ‘grabbed Kobe’s uniform, put it on, and imitated him in front of all the other players on the West team.
He was joking and berating Kobe’ to fellow NBA stars, including the Clippers’ Chris Paul and Blake Griffin and Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant. The source added Bryant later arrived in the locker room, ‘said hello to everyone on the team except Howard, grabbed his stuff and moved as far away from Howard as he could.’
The Lakers need to think long and hard about this. Kobe Bryant isn’t going to be around forever. He is going to play 2-3 more years and who knows, he might hang them up after next year. Dwight Howard by all accounts is already thinking about leaving LA. That would put the Lakers in a bad spot in the future. Do they really feel comfortable that Dwight Howard will re-sign with them and be the face of the franchise in the future? If they don’t they need to trade him now.