Dwight Howard may have stepped up his game as the Los Angeles Lakers headed into the All-Star break, but his relationship with Kobe Bryant could be worsening. After the Lakers suffered a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Clippers last Thursday, Kobe said he was upset with some of his teammates for laughing it off. While he didn’t mention anyone by name, this picture makes it seem obvious he was talking about Howard.
According to the NY Post, the tension between the two continued into the All-Star break. Page Six described the relationship between Howard and Bryant as “beyond icy” during the All-Star festivities over the weekend in Houston. In fact, sources said it bordered on childish when Dwight began mocking Kobe behind his back.
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 Post also mentioned how Kobe told reporters “it doesn’t matter” when he was asked what the Lakers might do with Howard as the trade deadline approaches.
Was Howard just messing around, or is there more to it? There were reports last month that indicated the two superstars had cleared the air, but it doesn’t sound like that lasted very long. Howard recently admitted he is sick of hearing about his shoulder from Kobe and others, so from the sound of it the two are mutually annoyed with one another. That can’t be good news for the 25-29 Lakers as they aim to turn things around.
