Dwight Howard’s Father Critical of Kobe Bryant and Mike D’Antoni


The soap opera in Los Angeles has gotten so ridiculous, that even the parents of Lakers players are now weighing in through the media. Dwight Howard Sr. spoke to the AJC about what his son is going through, and ripped both Kobe Bryant and head coach Mike D’Antoni. Kobe, for his part, says he’s done publicly criticizing Dwight, and the younger Howard refused to address his father’s belief that he will re-sign with the Lakers: “I told him before he said it publicly, ‘It’s your career. No person can say what you need to do or not do. You can’t worry about what Kobe or anybody else says,’ the elder Howard said. ‘Nobody can say what Kobe said — that’s stepping into another man’s shoes. I understand what Kobe was trying to do, but he went about it the wrong way. He’s trying to win a championship. But Dwight has to tell Kobe, ‘I appreciate your opinion, but that doesn’t matter. We’re two men on this team. We need to be reasonable about this.’ Dwight Sr. said he believed Bryant was trying to motivate his son, but that the advice was misplaced, adding: ‘The problem is the coach. (D’Antoni) needs to step in and say, ‘You guys have got to be quiet. We’re trying to secure something here. Dwight is probably looking at the coach, thinking, ‘What are you going to do?’ I promise, if that had been Stan Van Gundy, that wouldn’t have happened. (Howard) wouldn’t have been admonished publicly. I think the coach has a lot to do with who controls Kobe’s mouth right now.’ […] Howard and his parents speak frequently. ‘When he spoke up, he asked me what I thought, and I told him I applaud him for standing up for himself,’ Dwight Sr. said. ‘But I still think he needs to have a sit down with the coach and Kobe.’ e believes Howard received some bad advice from representatives last year: ‘I don’t think he realized some of the things he was being blessed with in Orlando.’ The Lakers’ situation, he said, has worn on Howard. ‘L.A. has been like humble pie for him,’ he said. ‘When you go from being the man in one city (Orlando) to second or third tier, it takes a toll on you mentally.’ What happens after the season? Howard’s father still thinks the center will re-sign with the Lakers. When asked about Brooklyn, he said, ‘Oh, I doubt it. That would surprise me.’ What about the Hawks? ‘Dwight hasn’t said anything about Atlanta, either. But he likes home. I think he would love to end his career here, even though he hasn’t said that publicly.'”