After the Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, a report surfaced that said Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard were at each other’s throats after an earlier loss this season. On New Year’s Day the Lakers fell to the Philadelphia 76ers, and according to the New York Daily News Kobe and Howard had a heated exchange following the contest.
A league source told the Daily News that the Lakers stars got into a heated exchange following a New Year’s Day loss to the 76ers, and Bryant went for a low blow – referencing and agreeing with Shaquille O’Neal’s criticisms of Howard being soft.
Howard was restrained from going at his teammate, according to the source, and there have been rumblings from the center’s camp that he’s been unhappy with Bryant since earlier in the season.
This quote came from Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, and would be the latest incident in a long line of unfortunate events that seem to have overtaken the Lakers.
But, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles, who is quickly becoming one of the best beat writers in the business, this report simply isn’t true.
Two Lakers sources have adamantly shot down the reported Dwight/Kobe incident. One said, “it’s simply not true.”
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) January 7, 2013
I guess that’s encouraging, right? Maybe? A little bit?
Even if the reports are false, which I’m going to take Ramona’s word on it because she’s usually spot on with her reports. But the fact that this spat even has to be denied in the first place is the problem, folks. Things aren’t going well for the Lakers, and when there are rumors of infighting and nonsense going on behind the scenes, that’s a very troubling thing.
