If Kobe Bryant did not spare his closest friend Pau Gasol in the Olympics, he certainly didn’t hold back from anything else in his pursuit of winning. This intense drive meant that Dwight Howard, given their prior friction, was likely the last person Bryant cared about during the 2009 NBA Finals. Little did Bryant know that his victory over the Orlando Magic in 2009 would devastate Howard to the point of tears and questioning God. Appearing in the Mulligan Brothers Interviews, Howard revealed the emotions and journey he experienced after the loss in the 2009 NBA Finals.

The 3x DPOY recalled sitting on the bench after the loss, watching the Black Mamba celebrate on his home court in Orlando. He further mentioned crying upon reaching home, while listening to Love Yourself, thinking this was his one missed shot. “I ain’t gonna have no more shots, man. Kobe just deflated my whole life. He dunked on me when I was a rookie. Won the championship left me here sitting on the bench to cry in front of my hometown fans,” thoughts rushed through Howard’s mind back then.

Notably, Kobe Bryant and Howard had a shaky relationship throughout their time in the league. Even as teammates in the LA Lakers, reports suggested they never got along well. However, Howard does not hold his loss in the NBA Finals against Kobe. Although he admitted crying back then, he further revealed how the loss shaped him. Dwight recalled questioning God, asking if He was on his side. He later realized that winning could have set him on a path away from God, as he stated on the podcast.

The D-12 claimed a championship to his name either way in season 2020 with the Lakers. But it took time for him to realize that his prayers ahead of the 2009 season should never have stemmed from desire. In fact, he got so sorted in his mind that he later even credited his 3 DPOY awards to Kobe.

As mentioned above, the Black Mamba hit a nasty poster dunk against Howard in his rookie season. But later, D-12 himself stated that dunk was one of the 5x NBA champ’s best. “@daydrianharding_ asked me why I have this picture of Kobe dunking on me hanging up with all my other pictures… that was a canon event… I told him that was what drove me to become the defender I was in the NBA… After that wasn’t no one dunking on Dwight DPOY Howard,” he wrote in a social media post.

Was Dwight Howard’s relationship with Kobe Bryant misunderstood?

After Bryant’s passing, D-12 stated people had a wrong perception about his feelings towards Kobe. He believed there were just times when both of them didn’t understand each other. But it wasn’t as if they hated each other, Howard himself claimed in a post-game interview.

“You know, I didn’t get a chance to tell him how appreciative I was for our time together. And (how) thankful, you know, I was to be back here in LA and stuff like that,” D-12 said. The 8x All-Star later even denied media speculations that he left the Lakers after 2012 just because of his friction with Kobe Bryant.

He never denied having differences with the 5x NBA champ. But he claimed in a 2023 interview that his move was based on the belief that he could form a better team with James Harden. However, he stated if he thinks now, he should have stayed with the Lakers. “Me and Kobe, we could’ve figured it out. I think we left a lot of shit out on the table, we could’ve figured that out,” he added. So it’s clear that though the Black Mamba deprived Howard of a championship in 2009, the 8x All-Star harbors no negative feelings.