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Its one thing to say the media hypes it up...its another when you read the quotes because there is no question something is boiling in that locker room. Kobe could easily be a little "nicer" in his comments to calm the media down. Instead all he says is "don't make it a big deal, what I said is what I said"....
I'm officially blaming both parties but mainly Bryant here. As the soon to be 35 year old leader of this ballclub its his responsibility to air this things out at some point. Its taking away from the teams focus and is detrimental to our playoff hopes. You see that D12 is sensitive (read crybaby), stop adding fuel to the fire for godessake. Even if you lie, its your job to extinguish the story with a few supportive comments.
MIAMI — The Lakers have talked plenty about what ails them this season. Rarely, have they actually corrected them.
But with Dwight Howard facing endless scrutiny regarding his injured right shoulder and how he fits in with the Lakers, his father, Dwight Howard Sr., told the Atlanta Journal Constitution he needs to have a sitdown with Kobe Bryant and coach Mike D’Antoni to hash things over for the sake of the team. After all, Bryant has received plenty of attention for comments attributed to him in an ESPN.com report this week suggesting Howard needed to return quickly and play in pain even if his shoulder isn’t fully healed. Although he denies it, D’Antoni also indirectly has suggested the same thing.
But the involved parties don’t have any interest on the idea. Instead, the Lakers (24-27) say they’re strictly focused on Sunday’s game against the Miami Heat (33-14) at American Airlines Arena.
“Honestly, I’m done talking about it,” Bryant said. “There’s nothing to talk about it. There’s nothing to discuss. It’s silly.”
D’Antoni wasn’t necessarily opposed to it. He just believes the Lakers have already gone down that path, including having an air-it-out meeting two weeks ago against Memphis. Part of that meeting involved Bryant confronting Howard about his frustration surrounding his offensive role.
“That’s cool,” D’Antoni said. “He’s his father. He should defend his son. But I thought we had that in Memphis. We’re good.”
Howard also had little interest in adding to the storyline.
“I don’t want to get into it,” Howard said. “My dad is a grown man. That’s how he feels. We’ll leave it at that.”
Howard offered a similar comment on his dad’s assertion that he will re-sign this summer with the Lakers.
Whether Howard Sr’s comments reflects his son’s level of thinking remains to be seen. The ACJ article quotes his father as saying his son has talked to him frequently about this season and his frustrations. Howard conceded they talk everyday but nothing about basketball.
“That’s what’s he’s supposed to do, support his kid, right” Howard said of his father’s comments. “He’s going to do the best at that.”
In recent days, Howard has strongly defended himself for sitting out two games last week because of his aggravated labrum in his right shoulder. Howard also bristled at Bryant’s comments attributed to him that suggested he needed to return even with an unhealthy shoulder, quotes Bryant maintains were blown out of proportion.
“It’s really not that big of a deal,” Bryant said. “In Boston, they made something out of nothing. There wasn’t anything I said that was out of the ordinary or nothing I said before talking to him. They made a really big deal out of something that is really nothing.”
Instead, Bryant said [about Howard's reduced role on the Lakers]:
“He’s doing the best he can,” Bryant said of Howard. “Obviously he’s limited in what he can do for us as opposed to what he was doing when he was in Orlando but he’s still giving it a good effort.”
Part of that effort involves getting past the he said-he said drama that forever encapsulates the Lakers.
“It’s people who try to harbor and hang onto stuff all the time,” Bryant said of the dynamic between him and Howard. “He just has to do his job, go out and defend. We do our jobs too and do what we need to do to help us win. It’s not rocket science.”
If it was just media hype, Kobe could have easily debunked it with a "we're on the same page" quote. But instead he is offering nothing but "thats silly, move on"...and quite honestly...I'm 100% sure its affecting the play of the Lakers which is unacceptable and shows that MDA cannot manage these admittedly gigantic ego's in the locker room.
Here are some other quotes from Dwight Howard Sr.:
* "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."
* "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."
* "When he spoke up, he asked me what I thought, and I told him I applaud him for standing up for himself. But I still think he needs to have a sit down with the coach and Kobe."
* "L.A. has been like humble pie for him. When you go from being the man in one city (Orlando) to second or third tier, it takes a toll on you mentally."
Dwight Sr. told Schultz he still thinks his son will re-sign with the Lakers this offseason.
Howard Sr. is right even though he is saying it a little less PC than he should.
But this s*** needs to end...however that happens.
