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Since Dwight Howard was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers there have been reports and rumors that he and Kobe Bryant have had issues. Although, Bryant and Howard have denied it and attempt to prove rumors wrong by posting mocking and funny pictures on twitter, there are clearly personality conflicts.
Howard “happy-go-lucky,” demeanor doesn’t mesh well with serious, ultra-competitive Kobe. Howard can easily go in and out of the zone; Bryant can’t.
Pau Gasol is out with a torn plantar fascia for an indefinite period of time. This has trigged Bryant.
On Wednesday in an interview with ESPNBoston.com‘s Jackie MacMullan, Bryant told MacMullan:
“(Howard) has never been in a position where someone is driving him as hard as I am, as hard as this organization is. It’s win a championship or everything is a complete failure. That’s just how (the Lakers) do it. And that’s foreign to him.
“When you think about it, there aren’t many organizations that look at it that way. There are only two that can really honestly say that’s what they live by — Los Angeles and Boston.”
In addition, Bryant explains that, “We don’t have time for (Howard’s shoulder) to heal.” “We need some urgency.” “We don’t have three years,” Bryant said. “We’ve got this year.”
At some point, Bryant has to consider that maybe Howard can’t take anymore criticism. Bryant isn’t exactly being constructive. It’s injury season. Every bench has a lot of talent in street clothes. Unless they didn’t bring a suite.
On Thursday, Howard answered Bryant’s public outburst. The All-Star center told ESPN that, “That’s his opinion, that’s it,” Howard said. “He’s not a doctor, I’m not a doctor. That’s his opinion.”
Howard has had medical treatment on his shoulder. However, his doctor’s stance on his shoulder injury has gone unreported since it was announced that Howard was injured.
It’s unlikely that Howard is faking injury because he doesn’t want to play.
The Lakers might not be good but at least they’re entertaining.
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