Larry Brown Sports

Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard may have had a contentious relationship during the regular season, but make no mistake about it: Kobe understands the importance of Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers.

During an interview with 710/ESPN Radio LA on Wednesday, Bryant was asked if he has talked to Howard about free agency. Bryant said he had, and then he explained why it is imperative for the Lakers to bring back Howard, who will be a free agent this summer.

“It’s not like you have guys like Dwight Howard walking around every day,” Bryant told hosts John Ireland and Mike Trudell. “Those guys are hard to find. They don’t grow on trees. I think when you have somebody like that with his talent level, you have to be able keep him and lock him in with this franchise.”

The Lakers have had some of the best centers in history play for the franchise. Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Shaquille O’Neal have all worn the purple and gold. Bryant believes Howard would be the next great center in the franchise’s lineage.

“The history this franchise has with having great centers, in my opinion, this would be a great spot for him,” said Bryant.

[Related: Mitch Kupchak: Dwight Howard will have statue someday]

Kobe said earlier this month that he would let Howard shop around and explore the free agency process. He said that he just wanted the last word with Dwight. But Bryant says he has spoken to the center somewhat recently.

“I spoke to him maybe a couple of weeks ago, just to check in with him, see what he was up to, see how his summer was going,” said Bryant. “But I haven’t spoken to him since. I know he’s got a big decision to make and I’m sure he’s going to make the visits and talk to the players from the teams that he’s considering. We’ll touch base with him a lot more.”

[Related: Kobe Bryant confronted Dwight Howard in team meeting]

The Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and Atlanta Hawks all are expected to pursue Howard in free agency. Houston reportedly believes they have a good shot of landing the center. Despite that, the Lakers can offer Dwight over $30 million more than any other team and therefore have a strong chance of retaining the big man.

What’s notable here is that despite all the fighting Bryant and Howard did during the season, Bryant’s opinion of Howard as a player has not changed. The question is, will Bryant’s words be enough to change the opinion of Lakers fans who grew tired of Howard during the season? Regardless, Kobe emphasizing Howard’s importance to the team should only increase the center’s chances of returning to LA.

Kobe Bryant recently settled a lawsuit with his parents, who were trying to sell some of the basketball star’s memorabilia. Bryant successfully protested the auction, saying that the items belonged to him and that his mother had no right to sell them.

While most of the items were pulled from the auction as part of the terms of the settlement between the parties, some items are still being auctioned.

Goldin Auctions, which initially gave Bryant’s mother $500,000 up front to sell the items, has 22 items currently listed for auction from the Kobe Bryant collection. The items include rings, shoes, autographs, jerseys, and more.

Here is a full list of the items available in the auction, and their prices:

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Kobe Bryant has one year remaining on his deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, but that does not mean the future Hall of Famer is contemplating retirement. Bryant suffered a torn Achilles back on April 12, and we all know he would never be one to let an injury dictate the end of his career. But how many more years is he planning to play?

According to ESPNLosAngeles.com, Bryant is not expected to retire after next season. He wants to not only tie Michael Jordan with six NBA championships but surpass him. A source reportedly told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that Kobe wants to be “back next season with a vengeance” and is looking for “two more cracks at it to win seven NBA titles at least.”

That would certainly help explain why Kobe said he wants the last word with Dwight Howard before he makes his decision in free agency. In order to win even one more title, the Lakers will need to do a lot of roster revamping and focus on getting younger. Bringing back Howard would be a good start.

Shelburne’s source went on to say that although it would be difficult for the Lakers to bring Kobe back at his current salary of $30 million per year, the team is prepared to treat him with the respect he deserves on account of what he has done for the franchise during his career. If Kobe is truly determined to win one or two more titles, he would be wise to sign a somewhat team-friendly deal.

Of course, all of this speculation is contingent upon his recovery. As it stands right now, LA has plenty of holes to fill. The task would become even greater if Kobe is not the same player when he returns from his Achilles injury.

Kobe Bryant is getting toward the end of his NBA career, but it is unclear exactly how many seasons he plans to continue playing. Before he suffered a torn Achilles, there was reason to believe Kobe would play out the final year of his contract next season and then walk away. A recent comment he made proves that it isn’t that simple.

During an interview with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN Radio Friday, Kobe hinted that the 2013-2014 season may not be his last. When asked about the possibility of Tim Duncan tying him by winning a fifth ring, Bryant gave the following response.

“My goal is to win more than five,” he said, via the LA Times. “If he does win five, hopefully that pushes our organization upstairs to be even more determined and more driven to make the necessary expenses to make sure we continue the next year and the year after that.”

Kobe would make nearly $30.5 million next season under his current deal. It’s unlikely that he will restructure his current deal, but he certainly won’t be able to make that kind of money if the Lakers extend him beyond next year. In order to make a run at high-profile free agents and bring back Dwight Howard, the team will need money.

If Bryant is serious about returning for more than just another season, he is probably going to have to accept a multiyear deal that is team-friendly. That would give him the best chance to win a sixth ring. Kobe recently said he plans to retire soon, but we have no way of knowing what soon is. One year, three years? We shall see.

H/T Pro Basketball Talk

Dwight Howard has approached his upcoming free agency the exact way we expected him to thus far. The 27-year-old has made it clear that his return to the Los Angeles Lakers is hardly a foregone conclusion and that he intends to explore every option. Once he is done doing that, Kobe Bryant would like a word.

“For me, you kind of let him do his due diligence and then move in and talk to him and figure out if this is a place he wants to be,” Bryant told ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Dave McMenamin on Tuesday. “We all want him here. But then that’s when the selling begins [after Howard is courted by other teams]. You don’t start the selling process right before he goes and does all this stuff. You want to get the last word. You want to have the final word and the closing argument.”

Earlier this week, a report indicated that the Houston Rockets feel they have a legitimate shot to land Howard. While the Lakers can pay him $30 million more than any other team with a max contract, tax laws in certain states like Texas help close the gap. There is also the possibility of Howard opting out of any new deal he signs before the final year, which would give LA less of an advantage.

Other teams are also planning to give Howard an enticing sales pitch, with some like the Atlanta Hawks starting a bit early and potentially violating the rules because of it. But once all those teams have chimed in, Kobe is hoping to leave a lasting impression.

“I’ll give him a little opening statement, but then I have to make sure I have the final word,” he said.

Bryant is coming off a major injury and is getting toward the end of his career, so he understands having a player like Howard on the team gives him a better chance to capture another title. They may have had their differences during their first season as teammates, but Kobe and Dwight can still anchor a contending team. Whether or not Howard is open to giving it another try remains to be seen.

We have heard of athletes hitting up Twitter to refute phony reports, but how many athletes respond via Twitter to refute fake reports started by phony Twitter accounts? Kobe Bryant is one of those guys. Why? Probably because he relishes the opportunity to put his doubters in place, even if his doubters are make believe.

The whole thing started on Sunday night when a fake Twitter account of someone pretending to be Yahoo! Sports reporter Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that Kobe was supposedly retiring. Note that this fake account has three “O’s” in Yahoo! where there should be two:

Somehow that tweet managed to receive 288 retweets, including retweets from some pretty big sports figures on Twitter. It apparently made enough noise to prompt Kobe to respond:

Really?? Me. Retire?? Soon, but not yet Vino still has work to do #35 #OG #kbvff

— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) May 20, 2013

Did we really think Kobe was going to retire? Not a chance. There’s no way that guy would go out with a torn Achilles’ tendon injury. No way he’d let that be his last impression on the NBA.

Looks like Phil Jackson won’t be back to coach the Los Angeles Lakers any time too soon.

In his new memoir “Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success” that will be out next Tuesday, Jackson finally compares Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant as players. Jackson clearly favors MJ over Kobe.

Jackson has won 11 championship rings as a coach — six with the Chicago Bulls and five with the Lakers. He mostly avoided comparing MJ and Kobe — two of the greatest players ever, both of whom were star players on his teams — until now. That’s probably because he was still in the middle of his coaching career when he wrote his first book.

According to excerpts from the book shared by the Los Angeles Times, Jackson calls Jordan a “tougher, more intimidating defender,” and says Kobe sometimes forces the action. He also said Jordan had superior skills to Kobe as a leader.

“No question, Michael was a tougher, more intimidating defender. He could break through virtually any screen and shut down almost any player with his intense, laser-focused style of defense,” Jackson writes, per The Times.

“Kobe has learned a lot from studying Michael’s tricks, and we often used him as our secret weapon on defense when we needed to turn the direction of a game. In general, Kobe tends to rely more heavily on his flexibility and craftiness, but he takes a lot of gambles on defense and sometimes pays the price.”

[RELATED: Which player would Jackson choose to start a team?]

Jackson also commented on Kobe’s 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors and noted the difference in shooting percentage between the two; Kobe is 45.4 percent for his career, whereas Jordan was 49.7.

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