“Obviously, this isn’t working,” Bryant told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Bryant, who may have been just a tad frustrated after a 7-22 shooting performance, may finally be realizing that this Lakers team isn’t an easy fix. He admitted already that he isn’t happy about Pau’s position in the sixth man role, and now he is beginning to hear the rumbles that Dwight Howard is unhappy about his amount of touches on the offensive end.
Kobe has made it clear that he has done everything he can to help Dwight Howard with the transition to playing in Los Angeles, where the lights are a bit brighter than they were in the calm of Florida.
“I’ve constantly tried to help him out, tried to talk to him,” Bryant said of Howard. “Two o’clock in the morning, three o’clock in the morning. Texting him. Sharing reading materials. Anything to try and help him.”
Maturity has always been an issue with Dwight Howard dating back to last season’s “Dwightmare” trade saga, but Kobe is hoping that there is more to it than simply that.
“He’s coming off a major surgery in a market where it’s just merciless; where there’s demands and responsibilities of athletes. It’s been tough on him.”
Unfortunately, these new problems may have come up at a crucial time as, reportedly, the Brooklyn Nets are interested in Dwight Howard and if the Lakers can’t right the ship, a whole new set of players may be brought in to get things back on track.