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Dwight Howard says he was close to elbowing Kobe after he tapped him on the back

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The Los Angeles Lakers and the NBA world witness a public reconciliation between two former rivals.

The long-standing tension between Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard appears to have fully thawed following an interaction at Staples Center on November 17, 2019. During the Lakers’ 122-101 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, Bryant—attending the game with his daughter, Gianna—approached the sideline to greet his former teammate.

• Howard admitted to reporters on November 18 that he initially did not recognize the person who touched him and instinctively prepared to throw an elbow before realizing it was the retired legend.
• The encounter marks a definitive shift from the pair’s historically contentious relationship, which famously included a 2014 confrontation where Bryant labeled Howard “soft.”
• Bryant approached Howard to tell him, “Hey, what’s up? You’re playing good,” signaling an end to the years of animosity that followed Howard’s 2013 departure from Los Angeles.

The Evolution of a Rivalry

The friction between Bryant and Howard originated during Howard’s lone season with the Lakers in 2012-13. Expectations for the pair were high, but the partnership failed to materialize, leading to Howard’s exit in free agency to the Houston Rockets. The conflict simmered for years, most notably during a 2014 game when an elbow-related skirmish led to Bryant’s public dismissal of Howard’s toughness.

I didn’t even know who it was. Slapped me on the back of the neck. I was about to elbow him, but then he said, ‘Hey, what’s up? You’re playing good.’ I said, ‘OK.’

Howard later came to view the “soft” comment as a reflection of their differing mentalities and maturity levels at the time, eventually embracing the remark as a formative part of their shared history.

The Current Lakers Trajectory

The atmosphere surrounding this reunion reflects the current state of the franchise. Howard has successfully integrated into a Lakers squad that holds an 11-2 record as of November 19, 2019, providing reliable interior defense and rebounding. The public interaction at Staples Center underscored that the historical friction has been replaced by a focus on the team’s immediate goals.

Howard now turns his attention to the upcoming road trip, where he will look to anchor the paint when the Lakers take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on November 22.