It is easy to get Dwight Howard to start talking. It is getting him to stop that seems to be the problem.
Kobe Bryant is going to have to share his secret with all of us.
As the Rockets prepare to host the Lakers in the first meeting between Dwight Howard and his former team of one season, Howard told Melissa Rohlin of the Los Angeles Times that he talks to several teammates like Jodie Meeks, Jordan Hill and Robert Sacre. Kobe Bryant is decidedly not one of those players.
Rumors started well before Howard even joined the Lakers that he was skeptical of playing with Bryant. As Howard was evaluating his landing spots out of Orlando, he was skeptical of having to share the ball with Bryant and dealing with Bryant's dominating personaltiy. Rumors were that those concerns were not alleviated when he actually played with him.
Bryant was part of the team that tried to keep Howard in Los Angeles, but that was to no avail. He is now in Houston.
That led to fans at Monday's Rockets game against the Clippers in Los Angeles to boo Howard every time he touched the ball. That is going to be the norm for him every time he ends up in Los Angeles it appears.
Tonight's game was the first opportunity for the media to ask Howard about his departure. Howard finally seemed to be getting the message that he should not speak so much about the past and make everyone like him.
He lashed out at the Los Angeles media a bit for hounding him with What-Ifs regarding his time with the Lakers (h/t Pro Basketball Talk):
Listen, it’s over with man. I’m already out of there. There’s no need to talk about what the Lakers could have did, I made my decision and I’m living with it. I’m happy where I’m at, I’m in a great place… I think everybody should move forward. It’s over with. This is my life. You don’t like it? So what.
So much for that. Maybe this is a new Dwight Howard. Or maybe a likeable Dwight Howard is a quiet Dwight Howard.
