• Dwight Howard left Kobe Bryant and the Lakers to take a bet on James Harden and the Rockets in 2013
• Howard regrets that move, thinking a young Harden would develop into someone like Kobe
• The three-time Defensive Player of the Year left the Rockets after three seasons
Dwight Howard had reached the peak of his career by the early-2010s after a dominant prime that saw him win three Defensive Player of the Year awards. He was supposed to extend Kobe Bryant‘s competitive window on the Lakers but ended up leaving the team to sign with the Rockets.
Howard now says he regrets moving to Houston because he misjudged James Harden as a young Kobe.
“I looked at him [James Harden] like a younger version of Kobe. I don’t know why I was thinking that. No disrespect to James, but I was thinking that at the time that me, and James could be a new version of Kobe and Shaq… The Lakers’ decision was solely based on I felt like me and James would have been better at the time than me and Kobe.”
He admits leaving the Lakers ultimately became an emotional decision for him.
“If I would’ve sat down and really thought about my decisions without being in my emotions, I probably would’ve stayed in LA.”
"I looked at [James Harden] as a younger version of Kobe. I don't know why I was thinking that… If I would've sat down and really thought about my decisions without being in my emotions, I probably would've stayed in LA."
—Dwight Howard
(via @MATHHOFFA)pic.twitter.com/nBpbXomiKL
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 4, 2023
Howard had three seasons with the Rockets, where his numbers were taking big declines every season.
From averaging 18.3 points and 12.2 rebounds in 2013-14 to averaging 13.7 points and 11.8 rebounds in 2015-16 shows how Harden’s growth as a singular offensive force essentially isolated Howard and caused his athletic decline to be magnified as he couldn’t score without being fed.
Should Dwight Howard Have Never Left The Lakers?
Harden isn’t Kobe and will never be Kobe, but even with his flaws, Harden did prove to be one of the best guards in league history. Howard evaluated the talent correctly, but he put an incredibly high ceiling on him, something ‘The Beard’ never reached. Due to the ambitious nature of both players at the time, they didn’t connect as teammates either.
The Lakers fit in Dwight’s one season alongside Kobe and looked extremely clunky. The Lakers weren’t very competitive, as Howard averaged 17.1 points and 12.4 rebounds next to Kobe. They didn’t connect on a personal level, and that’s hard to work through as superstar teammates.
Dwight made an emotional decision to leave, but given Kobe’s career after 2013, the two likely would have never had major success anyway. Dwight won a title in Laker Land ultimately anyway, but alongside LeBron James in 2020.
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