Dwight Howard dishes on major difference playing with Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James on Lakers

Even though he was badly snubbed from the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team back in February 2022, it’s not up for debate that Dwight Howard had one of the most impressive careers and dominant peaks in league history.

The 18-year NBA veteran is best known for his eight seasons with the Orlando Magic, a franchise for which he holds the records of most points, rebounds, blocks, free throws, games played and Win Shares, but despite the fact that Orlando was by far Dwight Howard’s most successful stop, the two teammates that he’s asked about most often are Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, a pair of GOATs who Dwight suited up alongside with the Los Angeles Lakers at two different points in his career.

On Tuesday, Dwight Howard spoke with with Mike Miller and Goran Dragic — filling in for usual co-host Udonis Haslem — on The OGs podcast, and dished on what it was like to play with two of the greatest players who have ever stepped on an NBA floor. And as we already been made aware countless times over the years, Bron and Mamba are completely different cats.

“They have this presence, and when Kobe walks into the room or LeBron walks into the room, their presence is there and you can feel it. Kobe was more so like a silent killer. He didn’t really talk too much. LeBron loves to have fun, he wants to make jokes, but when he gets on the court you know he can turn that switch, it’s crazy to watch. The mental aspect of it, LeBron is doing all the plays he’s like the coach, and Kobe’s like give me the ball and I’m going to handle it, and I think those are the two differences.”

Even though Dwight would go on to list both LeBron and Kobe as two of his top five teammates ever — along with Orlando Magic teammates Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu, and Rashard Lewis — he shared that ahead of the 2012 trade that brought him to Los Angeles, he never wanted to play for the Lakers.

“At the time, I had actually told the Magic the one place I didn’t want to go was the Lakers,” Howard told Miller and Dragic. “It was no offense to the Lakers fans or anything like that but we had just lost in the finals to the Lakers and I’m like man, I want to beat Kobe. I want to beat the Lakers, not go join the Lakers.”