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- Dwight Howard was traded from the Orlando Magic to the Los Angeles Lakers back in 2012.
- The trade famously did not work out as Howard lasted just one season in Los Angeles.
- NBA analyst Jalen Rose recently revealed what Kobe Bryant’s reaction was when he found out the Lakers traded for Howard.
While the Los Angeles Lakers’ trade for Dwight Howard was considered to be a championship-contending move at the time — Howard had been an All-NBA first-teamer in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 — the trade was famously a failure, as the center lasted just one season in Tinseltown with the Lakers.
During a recent appearance on the All The Smoke podcast, Jalen Rose — who was guarding the late, great Kobe Bryant when he put up 81 points against the Toronto Raptors — revealed what Kobe’s reaction was when he found out Dwight Howard was coming to the Lakers. And perhaps unsurprisingly, Kobe was less than thrilled.
“I probably shouldn’t say this — I was speaking at his camp the day he heard that Dwight Howard was going to get traded to them [the Lakers],” Rose said on a recent episode of the All The Smoke podcast.
“So Kobe takes the call, I might have heard some of the conversation. And I might have heard Dwight asking him about L.A. and some of the off-the-court things. Kobe got off of the phone and said ‘This shit ain’t going to work.’ This is before he even laced up with him one time. He said ‘His head ain’t right.’ I’m here to get championships — you’re asking me about producers? He was like, ‘This ain’t gonna work.’ And so that’s what I loved about Kobe: his dedication.”
For anyone who watched Kobe dominate the NBA for two decades, it should come as no surprise that the Hall of Famer was already fed up with Dwight Howard’s antics before they even shared the court.
While Howard’s first stint in L.A. didn’t work out, the mercurial center eventually returned to the team to play with LeBron James and co. for the 2019-20 season. After spending last year with the Sixers, Howard is now currently on the Lakers’ roster once again.
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