Los Angeles Lakers Legend Sees Different Dwight Howard Returning To Hollywood

Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard have long been known as NBA stars who had differences. The most celebrated of which was back during the 2012-13 season and further encounters from there. In short, there is no love lost between the two cagers although the Black Mamba seemed to have mellowed down a bit in a recent interview.

Appearing on a CBS Show, Bryant reminisced on how he and Howard never really got along smoothly back during the 2012-13 NBA season. The three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year was seen as one of the promising big men at the time. Unfortunately, his career started to tumble since leaving the Orlando Magic. The last years also saw a big dip in his performance, mostly sidelined due to various injuries.

Surprisingly, Bryant had a different view when he appeared on The Talk. The five-time NBA champion believes that Howard is a lot different now and that he can help the Lakers in their quest for an NBA title.

“I think he’s ready. He’s ready for this next time around, do whatever is necessary to help the team be successful,” Kobe said. “And I think he’ll do it.

The recent comments of Bryant were a big turnaround from recent weeks. In a previous post, the 41-year-old along with Shaquille O'Neal took social media by buzz when they first seemingly started jawing again. It did not take long for both to clear the air and both eventually took their shots at Howard.

It was O'Neal who first took a swipe, purposely misspelling Howard's first name to "Dwite". He would later on clarify that his comments were directed at someone else. But it was pretty clear he was jabbing at the top pick of the 2004 NBA Draft.

Howard opted not to engage and simply ignore the criticism. It was something he was expecting, considering his last tenure in Hollywood was not exactly a good one. With a new lease on life, Howard gets the chance to revive his career and win the hearts of Lakers legends and fans with a good showing.

The 33-year-old needs to prove his worth since he is on a non-guaranteed deal. If he fails to impress or help the purple and gold in their NBA title run, he could find himself getting the pink slip at some point.