Dwight Howard Says He's over Kobe Bryant, but His Actions Scream Otherwise

Story by Bleacher Report
Written by Kevin Ding

NBA's Houston Rockets Center Dwight Howard is going to have a big-time season.

For all that he is not, he still is a great player. He's also healthier than he was in his lost season in Los Angeles with the Lakers in 2012-13.

The season opener Tuesday night between the Houston Rockets and Lakers was Howard's time to offer a peek at what lies ahead of him. And it's at a time when the aging superstar teammate he spurned, Kobe Bryant, 36, is just trying to hold it together a bit longer.

Despite missing half of training camp with a bruised knee suffered in practice, Howard was dominant right from the start. He wasn't perfect (13 points and 11 rebounds in only 21 minutes; 3-of-5 from the field, 7-of-16 from the line), but he ruled the paint at both ends, except when some iffy foul calls sat him down.

The Rockets ran circles around the Lakers in a 108-90 win, offering a golden opportunity for Howard simply to be the bigger man.

He wasn't.

Howard nailed Bryant in the jaw with an elbow, drawing a flagrant-1 foul, and then the two exchanged words. The Rockets were ahead by 25 points with 7:07 left in the game, and Bryant had taken the opportunity to show his frustration by standing up to Howard and trying to deny his outlet pass rather than just retreat on defense.

Bryant was called for a personal foul for hitting Howard's arm. If Howard had just waited for teammate Patrick Beverley to take a few more steps and create a passing lane—instead of swinging those elbows to the right and then to the left—it would've been Bryant who looked like the desperate fool.

And it would've been a very apt moment for Howard to do his usual routine of laughing it off, showing he really has moved on and is above this ongoing fray.

But that didn't happen because that isn't really the case.

Read More: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2248682-dwight-howard-says-hes-over-kobe-bryant-but-his-actions-scream-otherwise