Dwight Howard on being called 'soft' by Kobe Bryant: 'I hated him for that moment'

Dwight still remembers that exchange with Kobe.

Dwight Howard only spent one season in Los Angeles, but that monumental failure of a 2012-13 season has seemingly followed the eight-time All-Star for the latter portion of his career. He went from a top-3 player in the league to a journeyman whose skillset doesn’t fit the current NBA.

And it’s difficult to look back at Howard’s decline without thinking of the “SOFT!” run-in with Kobe Bryant after Howard was traded to Houston.

Howard was asked about his time with the Lakers in an interview on FAIRGAME with FS1’s Kristine Leahy. The now-Grizzlies center specifically brought up that moment and said that he “hated” Kobe at the time for those remarks.

Howard said:

“He had a comment about me being soft. And I think for years, I kinda hated him for saying that. Because I looked at it the wrong way. I think he was more so talking about my mentality. Not my physique, not how I am on the court. Like my edge. And I didn’t realize that because of all the noise surrounding him saying I was soft. And I hated it. I hated him for that moment. But I realized what he was talking about.”

This was that exchange:

Now with the Grizzlies, Howard is on his fourth NBA team since 2017.