One of the storylines as of late has been the supposed “feud” between Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant.
It all started during the game in New Orleans–in which Kobe Bryant punched in his 30,000th point–where Kobe appeared to miss a defensive rotation twice when Dwight went over to help, which resulted in an easy basket on both occasions.
Dwight called Kobe out over it, and Kobe fired back. It was best caught and tweeted by Kevin Ding of the OC Register, who witnessed it all first hand:
Dwight in disbelief at Kobe’s lack of defensive rotation on Robin Lopez dunk. NO 12, LA 7.
— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) December 6, 2012
Dwight and Kobe yelling at each other after Lopez gets another open basket.
— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) December 6, 2012
Dwight yelled at Kobe for not rotating to Lopez. Kobe yelled back at Dwight, pointing toward the other end of the court.
— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) December 6, 2012
Now in the timeout huddle, Dwight is standing up and pointing a finger in the face of the seated Kobe.
— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) December 6, 2012
Dwight did go slap Kobe’s hand after Kobe made a free throw. Kobe’s D improved after timeout. … NO 23, LA 20 after 1Q.
— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) December 6, 2012
Kobe went to sit next to Dwight at the end of the bench. At start of this timeout, Kobe reached out a hand to help pull Dwight to his feet.
— KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) December 6, 2012
It appeared to resolve on the court, as the Lakers went on to defeat the Hornets, 103-87.
After the game, however, both superstars had something to say about the incident. According to Terrance Harris of NOLA.com, Dwight Howard had quite a bit to say, but it was mostly positive:
“We have to be able to do that, talk to each other. We are a team, we are a family so we have to feel comfortable enough saying something.
You can say whatever you need to say and the other person doesn’t need to take it as a personal attack. That’s where we stand. There is no need to have a big discussion about it. At the end of the day it got us a win.
It’s going to continue to get better. We are still learning each other’s games so it’s going to continue to get better. I don’t have a problem saying anything to anybody. It should be that way. We’ve got to talk to each other, we are a team. We are a family. The more chemistry we develop the better we will be as a team.”
Many took this as the beginning of a feud between the two, but Bryant also had his own interpretation of it:
“We were very active defensively, communicated very well and we created some turnovers and got some easy points. From there we broke the game open.”
According to Mark Medina of insidesocal.com, Bryant explained his personality and brutally honest, pushing-buttons type of leadership style:
“That’s just how I lead. It’s no different. I was that way when I was 18 and I’m the same way. That’s how I lead. That’s what I’ve found to be successful, at least for me, in my style of leadership in winning championships. That’s just how it’s going to be.”
Additionally, when asked about it in an interview with ESPN which was aired during the Lakers/Thunder game, Bryant added that he warned Howard of the demanding leadership style Bryant possesses, and how he’s going to be tough on Howard. Kobe said Dwight welcomed it, but Kobe had to reiterate how tough it would be.
Apparently, Howard has absorbed some of Bryant’s leadership style and is dishing it back out to him, in a sense.
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