Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss revealed that the team consulted legend Kobe Bryant before signing center Dwight Howard this past offseason.
“I’m nodding my head yes,” Buss said on the “Daddy Issues with Joe Buck and Oliver Hudson” podcast. “I mean, Kobe wanted us to win. He wanted to see the Lakers win, and Kobe came to a couple games, and he was happy to see Dwight and greeted him.”
Bryant and Howard didn’t have the best relationship when they were teammates during the 2012-13 season.
“I tried teaching Dwight. I tried showing him,” Bryant said in a 2015 interview with USA Today. “But the reality is that when you have a perception of what it is to win a championship—and most perceptions of what it’s like to win are a very outgoing, very gregarious locker room where you pick each other up and you’re friends all the time.
“That’s the perception. And I think that’s what his perception was of what the idea is. But when he saw the reality of it, it made him uncomfortable. And it’s very tough to be able to fight through that, to deal with that challenge. And I don’t think he was willing to deal with that uncomfortable and combative nature.”
Despite their differences from their time as teammates, Bryant saw that Howard could fit in and help the 2019-20 Lakers win.
After the Lakers center DeMarcus Cousins to a torn ACL in an offseason workout, Howard became a logical choice to fill the void.
Howard has been solid off the bench for the Lakers, averaging 7.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game this season.
