Like you needed another reason as to why Dwight Howard left the Los Angeles Lakers.
In a radio interview on ESPN 710 in Los Angeles transcribed by ESPN Los Angeles’ Ramona Shelburne (h/t ProBasketballTalk), Antawn Jamison, now a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, admitted that Kobe Bryant and Howard never trusted each other:
What Jamison never figured out though, was why the relationship between Bryant and Howard never developed on the court.
“It was difficult,” he said. “I really believed before we got started that those two could co-exist. But it just didn’t work out that way. Both guys are unbelievable basketball players, the best we have in the game right now. But for whatever reason we just couldn’t get that relationship as far as them communicating and them trusting each other the way you needed them to trust each other in order for us to win a championship. It just didn’t happen that way.”
Can’t imagine why they wouldn’t trust one another. Kobe’s just an overwhelming competitor seemingly opposed to sharing the fate of the Lakers with anyone else, and Howards a scheming Stephen, who was plotting the removal of the Black Mamba come summer time. You’d think they could’ve bonded over their mutual stubborn defiance, but that was apparently asking too much.
So was Howard. If he, even for a second, thought that the Lakers would hand him the reins of the team from day one, he’s happy his paychecks don’t depend upon his common sense. Like I and many others have said a gazillion times before, Kobe is the Lakers. Jim and Jeanie Buss would sooner sell each other to the highest bidder before they would part ways with Kobe, especially when they would be severing 17-year-long ties in favor of a center who never earned his Hollywood stars and stripes.
That sense of entitlement, the one that prompted Howard to ask the Lakers to amnesty Kobe isn’t befitting of one star willing to compromise next to another. Perhaps he’ll have an easier time ceding organizational control of the Houston Rockets to James Harden, but only if he doesn’t play me-first card.
Though some Lakers fans won’t want to here it, Howard wasn’t the only one at fault here. Kobe could have been more receptive to his arrival. Not in the sense that he had to beg the Lakers to amnesty him in support of Howards wishes, but he has to understand the franchise’s torch will be passed at some point.
Now 35 and recovering from what could be a career-altering Achilles injury, Kobe must understand that the Lakers aren’t always going to be his. Once he retires, future Lakers won’t wear patches that read “Property of Black Mamba.” Kobe might ask that they do, but they won’t.
Inevitably he’ll have to relinquish the reins and pass the torch to someone else. If he really cares about the Lakers’ future, that’s exactly what he’ll do sooner rather than later. Which isn’t to suggest that Howard was the one he should’ve ushered in as the new face of the franchise. Battle of wills between he and Kobe or not, Superman didn’t seem ready to front a storied team like the Lakers.
But what about LeBron James? Or Carmelo Anthony? Or whoever else the Lakers chase next summer? Is there a deserving player among them, worthy of taking the controls Kobe has a death-like grip on?
The level of talent available next offseason implies yes, but the reputation of any incoming stars won’t matter nearly as much as Kobe’s capacity to trust them will.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
