Dwight Howard Rumors: Big Man Asked Lakers To Release Kobe Bryant, Sources Say
The Laker's reluctance to get rid of Kobe Bryant was the reason Dwight Howard chose to sign with the Houston Rockets, sources told ESPN.
The Lakers allegedly promised Howard he would be the face of the franchise in the near future, but that was undermined when at the end of the 2103 season, Bryant told reporters he planned to play for another three years. (At the beginning of the 2012-2013 season, the Lakers' superstar initially said he would retire at the end of the 2013-2014 season).
After learning of Bryant's plans to play until 2016, Howard's representatives asked the Lakers whether they would consider releasing Kobe through the league's amnesty clause, especially because Bryant suffered a server Achilles tendon injury towards the end of last season and his future was in doubt.
The Lakers, however, admitted they were not going to release their superstar and couldn't provide a definite timeline as to when Bryant would end his career with the team.
Howard was apparently willing to play one more year with Bryant, and then the big man expected to be the face of the franchise, taking the reign Bryant has held for roughly a decade. The catch was that Howard would only play another season with Kobe if the Lakers were willing to get rid of their coach, Mike D'Antoni, whose system never complemented the Rockets big man.
When the Lakers refused to adhere to any of Howard's request, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year decided it was time to play elsewhere.
There were several other reasons that impacted Howard's decision, including the prodigiousness of the Rocket's young roster and budding superstar James Harden. While the Lakers' aging roster and somewhat unaccomplished coach dissuaded the big man from re-signing with the team, it was Bryant's authoritarian approach to "mentoring" him that ultimately resulted in the Howard's departure.
"You need to learn how it's done first, and I can teach you here," Kobe reportedly said during a nearly two-hour meeting in which the Lakers made their pitch to Howard. "I know how to do it, and I've learned from the best - players who have won multiple times over and over."
