Earlier this year, Dwight Howard sat down with Shannon Sharpe on his Club Shay Shay podcast for a freewheeling conversation. At one point Sharpe brought up a rumor that Kobe Bryant "did not like his [Howard's] work ethic." In response, Howard had this to say:
"There's no way he said he didn't like my work ethic. There's no way. there's nobody in the NBA who complain say something about Dwight Howard's work ethic. There's no way! My body is better now than when I came into the league!"
Howard continued to deny that anyone could complain about his work ethic, listing how impressive his stats were (even after having back surgery). After a few minutes into Howard's rant, Sharpe interjected, saying, "He called you soft." Howard replied, "He called me soft when?" Sharpe then implied that Kobe had been mad at Howard for turning down a max contract with the Lakers, but Howard interjected:
"I did not turn down a max contract... No, and I'll tell you this they [the Lakers organization] said they put up billboards all around L.A. That never happened... A lot of that stuff wasn't happening... I went to Houston because I saw a young James Harden back then. I saw a young menace I could grow with..."
Throughout the interview, Howard seemed peeved by the questions. He was clearly frustrated by what he saw as misleading information coming from the Lakers' front office.
Right or wrong, it must have been difficult for Howard to be in the spotlight for so long. Fame takes a toll on athletes and it must be maddening to have the media run stories about you without first gathering enough evidence. Once they're out in the world, there's no taking them back.
Watch the full interview:
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