Dwight Howard Regrets Leaving Kobe Bryant & Lakers In 2013

The Los Angeles Lakers are looking for their next title after winning one in 2020 thanks to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, along with a cast of veteran role players like Avery Bradley, Dwight Howard, JaVale McGee and Danny Green.

Notably, Howard returned to L.A. after his first tumultuous tenure in 2012. He was traded there from the Orlando Magic in a blockbuster deal, forming a fascinating duo with Kobe Bryant.

Unfortunately, things never clicked and the Hall of Fame center left in free agency that following summer. Looking back on his first stint as a Laker, Howard wonders what could of been if he stuck around and made it work with Bryant.

“Everybody have different experiences and I think when I played for the Lakers, it was so short of a time. I was coming from a situation and the Lakers had just had a situation and then we tried to one year try to win. And we got a lot of guys coming in, it just didn’t work,” Howard told Men’s Health. “So, instead of us just figuring it out, I went to Houston. A lot of guys went other places and we didn’t play longer after that. But thinking about it sometimes like, ‘Man, what if we would have stuck it out? What if we just figured out how to make it work?’ I just think I was so young and he [Bryant] was at a older stage of his career, we might have had two different views. We might have wanted the same thing, but felt like we could have got there two different ways. And so, it didn’t work. Amazing teammate, I got to see a different side of him.”

Despite a disappointing ending to what was a championship-aspiring team, Howard got another opportunity to right his wrongs. Granted, he was not the same player, but he adjusted him game perfectly to complement winning basketball and played a big part in that title run.

During the 2020 postseason, the All-Defensive big man played an integral role in stopping Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic during the Western Conference Finals. Ultimately, Howard got his first title with the Lakers and it felt like a full circle moment, and he also redeemed himself with the fanbase.

Mike D’Antoni shares story behind training table photo with Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard

Howard came to the Lakers in 2012 at the peak of his powers, while Bryant was entering the latter stages of his career.

Former head coach Mike D’Antoni talked about the backstory behind the iconic training table photo with Bryant and Howard, which was funny at the time given all of the reports about dissension in the locker room between the stars and head coach.