Dwight Howard has had some very nasty thing shouted in his direction this season from Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant. We know Dwight and Kobe didn’t get along when they were teammates with the Los Angeles Lakers, so we weren’t really surprised when Bryant hurled all sorts of four-letter words at the big man last month. It was slightly more interesting when Kevin Durant reportedly called Howard a “p—y” multiple times earlier this week.
Before the Lakers faced the Houston Rockets on Thursday, Bryant was asked if he really meant all those mean things he said to Howard.
“Heat of the battle, heat of the moment,” Kobe said, per Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com. “You [reporters] have all been in arguments, you guys that are married. Sometimes you say things that you wish you could take back that you don’t really mean. But it’s in the heat of confrontation, and sometimes things come out.”
And he doesn’t think Durant meant what he said, either.
“No, I don’t feel that way. I don’t think Kevin does, either,” Bryant said. “In moments of confrontation during a game, you’ll say things in the heat of the moment.
“I know Dwight. I’m sure Kevin does. We don’t really feel that way about him. It’s like when you get in an argument with somebody, you’ll say things out of frustration, out of anger, that you don’t really mean.”
Kobe also admitted that he tries to be “as conscious as possible” now with trash-talking, given that there are cameras everywhere and things get blown up on social media.
Bryant can say whatever he wants, but we all know he meant it when he called Howard soft.
