Jalen Rose was a guard or a forward in his playing days. He made his debut in 1994 and had a lot of interactions with Kobe Bryant who was entering his prime in the 2000s. In fact, he and Kobe were on friendly terms after their ESPN commercial together. 

During the off season in 2012, they traded Dwight Howard to the Lakers team. At the time, Howard was one of the best players in the league. His trade to the Lakers to join Kobe looked like a match made in heaven and a recipe for success.

Although there was a lot of excitement around the trade, the most important man on the team seemed displeased. Kobe was not completely in favor of trading Howard. However, he still got traded in and Kobe had a bad feeling about it even before the trade happened.

Jalen Rose reveals Kobe Bryant had a shocking dismissal of his duo with Dwight Howard

In the All The Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Jalen Rose revisited the time of his playing days. He also talked about different teams he played for, the legendary Lakers team featuring Shaq and Kobe, Kobe’s 81 point game vs his Pacers side and his post-retirement life along with other things. Jalen also shared what Kobe had thought about Dwight Howard’s trade in 2012.

“So Kobe take the call, I’m sitting there. I might’ve heard some of the conversation.” Jalen Rose started talking about the conversation Kobe had about Dwight Howard.

“Kobe got off the phone [and said], ‘This sh** ain’t gonna work.’ this was before he even laced up with him one time. He said, ‘his[Dwight] head ain’t right. I’m here to get you championships. You asking me about producers?’ He like this ain’t gonna work. And so that’s what I love about Kobe. His dedication.”

This conversation between Jalen and Kobe took place when Dwight had called up Kobe to ask him about LA as a city and off the court things. This did not impress Kobe, as he thought Dwight was not serious enough.

After retirement, Kobe opened up more about him not liking Dwight, and it was nothing personal. He admitted he wanted more out of Howard and he could not deliver what Kobe desired for. The partnership between the two did not work out. It showed the difference in levels of dedication and ambition of Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard. Just one of the many things that set Kobe apart.