Kobe Bryant once explained Dwight Howard FAILED as a Laker because he had ‘s**t in his teeth’

Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard could not lead the LA Lakers to a championship during their stint together.

Kobe Bryant once explained Dwight Howard FAILED as a Laker because he had ‘s**t in his teeth’

Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant (via HoopsHype)

In the 2012/2013 NBA Playoffs, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Lakers in the first round. The Lakers finished seventh among the Western Conference teams. The team struggled despite having the star duo of Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard. Eventually, Howard became a free agent and signed a contract with the Houston Rockets after the season.

Without a doubt, Dwight Howard was the best big man in the league when he signed with the Lakers. He had just completed five consecutive years of earning a spot on the All-NBA First Team. Howard also won the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) 3 times in those years. He took Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals in 2009. The Lakers signed him for his achievements and accolades.

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Kobe Bryant talked about the failed stint. This is what he said:

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Would you rather have a friend that is not going to tell you you have sh** between your teeth? Would you rather have a friend that is not afraid of having that uncomfortable moment and tell you that you have sh** in your teeth?
Kobe Bryant during an interview.

Howard’s style was relatively calm and simple; this was relevant to someone from another generation. However, Bryant had a more old-school approach and treated the game very seriously. The various strategies for winning often caused disagreements between them. To illustrate, during the season, Bryant labeled Dwight as a teddy bear and many others.

The turbulent relationship between Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant: A missed opportunity and unhappy alliance

Kobe Bryant’s approach to basketball made him a unique person in the NBA. Bryant’s ‘tough-love and no-nonsense’ approaches made Howard uncomfortable. It also made him unhappy with the L.A. locker room climate presided over by Kobe Bryant. Therefore, Howard took a lower salary to play for the Houston Rockets.

Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant
Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant (via Bleacher Report)

It is beyond doubt that the collaboration between Bryant and Dwight made everyone expect the best. An excellent two-way player in Kobe combined with a defensive stud like Howard screamed championships. However, it did not succeed and failed miserably. For a year, Howard suffered in Bryant’s Los Angeles torture chamber, and Superman’s sojourn in Hollywood was cursed from the start.

He allegedly heard about this conversation for the first time during the summer of that year at that campsite where he was supposed to be having a break. After they hung up, Bryant reportedly said Howard’s “head ain’t in the right place,” which Bryant immediately dismissed as a useless strategy.

Kobe said something that foretold the early exit in the playoffs continued rather than the Lakers trying to go after another title. For example, he may have been offered a $ 118 million deal by the Lakers, but he was in such a rush to leave LA that he decided for only $88 million from the Rockets.

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