Whatever issues that both had in the past, it seems Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard see it all as part of their competitive nature that never really became personal.
Everyone is probably aware that Howard became one of the most hated players ever to don the Lakers jersey when he decided to jump ship and move to the Houston Rockets back in 2013.
Howard never really got in sync with the Lakers, considering the team had a pretty formidable lineup at that time. Aside from Bryant and Howard, on board as well were Pau Gasol and Steve Nash. On paper, the Lakers had a great chance of competing for another title but as it turned out, things didn’t go that way.
Nash was constantly injured, Bryant followed, and Gasol was time and again criticized for his alleged soft plays. Howard never had the chance to dominate. Summing it all up, it was pure disaster.
While there were no promises of him staying, Howard made the inevitable move to join the Rockets. That of course didn’t sit well considering the pitches thrown at him. Many felt he was just too selfish and couldn’t co-exist with Bryant still around.
The drama between Bryant and Howard escalated a bit during one game in 2014 when both almost figured in an altercation. Bryant called Howard soft in the play and even challenged him to start a fight.
Howard never obliged and simply laughed it off. However, at that point, it was clear that the two had let their competitive nature get the best of them.
However, all that seems to be over and done with, and the two have matured enough to mellow down and take it all as part of their NBA careers, as mentioned on Lakers Nation. Both were seen hugging and laughing when the Lakers visited the Rockets, dousing water over flames that many felt were burning when the two parted ways.
“I think everybody made it seem like we just hated each other,” Howard said via ESPN. “There's no need for us to hate each other. This is his last season -- congratulate him on that -- and I basically wanted to see if he wanted to get more 3s up. He had shot a couple. That’s what I was talking about at halftime with him.”
Indeed it did seem to look that way, and seeing that people do realize past run-ins and eventually consider them petty enough to be laughed off, well, Kobe and Dwight have done just that.
“My responsibility, when Dwight and I played together, was to get him to play his best basketball. That sometimes involves pushing buttons that guys don’t necessarily appreciate at the time. However, as a leader, that’s your job. That’s your responsibility. It’s nothing personal. You just try to get the best out of them, even if they don’t really find the humor in that at the time,” says Bryant in the same report.