Kobe Bryant had a lot to say. There’s much that fans aren’t aware of regarding the infamous feud between Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard. And, there’s clearly a lot that went unsaid between the two players at the time. More than a decade later, one hidden truth behind the feud gets unveiled as D Howard reflects on what could have been if he had spoken to Bryant.

As the 3x DPOY sat down for a conversation with Carmelo Anthony at 7 PM in Brooklyn, the former Lakers player didn’t hesitate to share his take. And as he did, Melo dropped the truth that the 5x NBA champ also wanted to reconcile with Howard.

Melo clarified that all Kobe had wanted to see was whether Howard had in him what was needed to win a championship. “He wanted it to work…It became almost competitive to push you to be who he wanted you to be or who he thought you should be,” Melo said.

Howard, too, had opened up about not being able to approach Bryant. He cleared the air that the two didn’t have any beef. However, this was something portrayed by the media. “You know, I’m young, I just felt like that at the time. It was really hard for me and Kobe to really communicate. I think we were just at two different mental stages,” he said in an IG live.

This all happened back in 2012-2013. And had they spoken to each other, this headline-making feud might not have happened. However, one thing that bothered Howard was how his first stint with the Los Angeles Lakers ended.

Dwight Howard’s decision to join Lakers 

Speaking of the clash of opinion and chaos that followed, D12 said, “I was really upset about how things ended the last time I was in LA and I felt like I got so much criticism for leaving, I was like, ‘Man, I would never go back. I hated that place. I was so upset.'” He also mentioned it in the podcast.

This issue caused chaos as the Lakers were defeated and exited the playoffs in the first round that season. Dwight Howard then went on to play for the Houston Rockets and met Kobe Bryant again, but this time as an opponent. There was a slight heated exchange between the two. 

Howard was quite clear that he wouldn’t be playing for the Lakers. But over time, he decided to forgive what had happened in the past. And in 2020, when he was offered the chance, he took it happily. 

“I just said, ‘You know what, I don’t care about anything, I don’t care about how many points I score, how many rebounds I get, who gets the praise, how many minutes I play, if my name is going to be in the newspaper,” Howard said. He had signed a $2.56 million deal with the Lakers. He went on to win the championship in 2020.