Monday, August 27th, 2012 at 8:10 am  |  76 responses

Kobe Bryant Predicted Lakers Would Get Dwight Howard a Month Before They Did


by Adam Figman | @afigman

Kobe Bryant has a pretty intense skill set. He can score the ball like few people in NBA history. He can motivate his teammates and push them beyond what they thought they were ever capable of, all by wanting to succeed so badly that those around him are thrown past their limits just by association. He can maintain and groom his talent well into his 30s, even refining aspects of his game that many thought had peaked years ago. He can win five Championships, two Finals MVPs, two scoring titles and one regular season MVP. He can continue to be the same beast while morphing into a different animal.

But who the hell knew he can predict the future?

According to Kevin Durant, the Lakers superstar really can do just that. About a month before the recent Dwight Howard trade went down, when KD and KB were together with Team USA, presumably at one of the squad’s many stops leading up to London, No. 24 made a set of predictions that somehow, magically, came true.

Via Yahoo! Sports:

Kobe Bryant isn’t one to mince words. His trash-talking style on the court is legendary and his sense of humor is as dry as it gets. So when Bryant told his Team USA teammates during Olympic training in early July that  Dwight Howard would be traded to the Lakers, there were plenty of skeptics. Kevin Durant led Team USA in scoring during the Olympics. Howard had several suitors at that point, but Bryant’s prediction still stayed in the back ofKevin Durant’s mind. Bryant’s words eventually became reality as Howard was dealt to the Lakers from the Orlando Magic in a four-team blockbuster trade on Aug. 10. “Kobe called that a month before it happened,” Durant told Yahoo! Sports while promoting his new movie “Thunderstruck.” “I didn’t believe him. He was just like, ‘We are going to have Dwight. We are going to have Steve Nash.’ He just talks a lot of trash, jokes and laughs. But he said it. I don’t think anyone paid attention to it but me and him. He said it and it happened. And they got better, a lot better. “Dwight’s name was being thrown on every team. Houston, Brooklyn, the Lakers. But I guess he called it right.”

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  • Rainman

    lol this is hilarious

  • Rainman

    the pic of urs is humerous to me lol. They got Nash is a finals jersey. (obviously his face pasted over steve blakes i think) But i jsut found that funny lol, carry on!

  • danpowers

    whatever, the lakers will stumble over the thunder and heat will stumble over the knicks this year

  • The Seed

    Happy Kobe got his wish, but my Lakers have to win two titles out of the next four years for it to be considered a success. Kobe does talk trash, cocky, smart, speaks 3 languages, could have went to Duke with just his SAT score, 2nd most points scored ever, about to be the all time leading scorer in playoff history and is considered the greatest 2 guard ever.

  • chingy

    Sarcasm at its finest. Nice.

  • LakeShow

    LOL, it’s a stupid pic. No Gasol. It just looks cool until you zoom in.
    I wanted to try posting my first pic too :)

  • chingy

    Although you can’t find out who cosigned you…or is there a way?

  • LakeShow

    No you can’t.

  • Shock Exchange

    Bron and Durant will naturally become rivals … only one steak and they both can’t have it. Reminds the Shock Exchange of the Bird / Magic saga. They both were teammates on a team of college players who played on the international circuit. They stole the show on the court and became good friends off it. When Magic approached Bird prior to their ’79 NCAA finals, Bird blew Magic off, acknowledging a collision course that would last over a decade.

  • pfunk36

    It ain’t cocky when you got 5 rings!

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    Ehh I don’t think so, but on our profile page I think we can see how many up and downs we get per comment

  • The Philosopher

    SLAM remains the g.o.a.t.
    Period.

  • Luke Tynan

    Whoa new . . . Lay out sweet signing in with Google reveals my actual name. . . Just what I want. Julian Assange strikes again

  • The Fury

    Celtics and Spurs are zombies..lol..I like that!!

  • The Fury

    @Seed…make it “considered to be one of the greatest 2 guards ever”. Nobody’s touching Mike.

  • airs

    WHOAAAUUUUUWW comments section

  • danpowers

    the lakers will be great on offense but their age and lack of athleticism will be a big problem on defense. their interioir defense will probably be the best in the league but they lack speed and athleticism on the wings. there is more than a handfull of point guards who will multilate nash and i wonder who on the lakers should be able to contain wings or twos like durant, melo, james, wade, gay, johnson, ellis, harden, iggy, pierce, butler, granger, young, gallinari, gordon, etc… even when the lakers play teams like the spurs who have a guy like lennard out there will benefit from the lakers lack of quality wings on the defensive end. will be interesting to see if howard is enough to make up for that or if they can establish defensive schemes like the mavs in 11 to hide this lack of speed.

  • Max

    How do u upload a picture?

  • RKJ92

    Are you a moron?? That comment is exactly the type of cockyness pertruding from Kobe to his delusional fanboys that makes all y’all so fxcking unlikable..

  • datkid

    hahahahahahahahaha…ahhhh the lakers will probably stumble over the thunder tho.

  • datkid

    we’ve all wanted this since 2011

  • http://twitter.com/AjpDos Allen Powell

    I don’t “know”. Just from their vibe they seem like they are cool, but not “friends.” No beef, but not homies. Anyway, what do I know?

  • LakeShow

    Nice Pyramid bro.
    I like the sound of the better actually;
    SLAM remains the g.o.a.t.
    Pyramid.
    .
    Haha

  • Roscoe

    No doubt… Pistons – Lakers type stuff.

  • Izz

    Kobe talks a lot of shit but that’s just part of the game for many. If anyone has read the article about the scrimmages for the Dream Team, they stress how much trash was talked between Magic and Jordan.

  • slick

    Amen to celtic and spurs being zombies, they just don’t go away. No matter how suspect boston plays, they somehow make it to playoffs

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