True to their word, the Lakers got the first and last meeting with Howard as the contingent of Mitch Kupchak, Mike D’Antoni, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Jim Buss and Time Warner executives met with Howard.
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After the meeting, Bryant was reportedly straight to the point with his message and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports had more information about what was said:
“You need to learn how it’s done first, and I can teach you here. I know how to do it and I’ve learned from the best – players who have won multiple times over and over. “You have to learn how it’s done,” Bryant told Dwight Howard on the way out of the Lakers, or maybe the way back into them.”
Bryant has maintained throughout the off-season that he won’t beg Howard to come back as he needs to make the decision for himself if the wants to stay with the Lakers.
While the Rockets were seen as the favorites heading into the meetings, it sounds like Howard enjoyed meeting with the five teams and genuinely doesn’t know what he’ll ultimately decide to.
The Lakers tried their hardest to sell Howard, a strategy that has been criticized by most, but the Bryant, Howard relationship might be what ultimately decides things for Howard.
Multiple times during the season, Howard complained directly and indirectly about how much the offense runs through Bryant, but it’s clear that Kobe is making it clear that he wants the big man back to continue to learn to be the best from him.
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