Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant ‘went at each other’ at Lakers meeting
The Los Angeles Lakers held a team meeting before Wednesday’s shootaround in order to clear the air about their recent struggles.
In a team meeting that preceded a shootaround on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers talked it out in an attempt to shore up their recent struggles. The meeting included Kobe Bryant directly asking center Dwight Howard if he enjoyed playing with him, according to the Los Angeles Times.
A source to the Times said that some of the Lakers “went at each other” during the meeting.
Head coach Mike D’Antoni was also present, and he began the process by saying he was tired of hearing so much about his offense being the issue. He also didn’t want to read any more about players receiving more touches; Howard did just that on Monday after a loss to Chicago.
Overall, D’Antoni told his players to stop worrying about the offense, as the defense has been more of an issue. Los Angeles ranks No. 8 in the NBA with 108.1 points per 100 possessions, according to Basketball-Reference.com, but only stands No. 20 in defensive ratings by giving up 106.9 points per 100 possessions.
Point guard Steve Nash added in the meeting that he wanted the team to play more together, no matter what style of offense that would involve.
And Howard, when asked by Bryant if he was “hard to play with,” gave an unclear response, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The meeting clearly affected Howard, who after the shootaround told reporters that he felt immature in complaining about attempting just five shots after the game on Monday.
The Lakers play the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night and have lost three games in a row to fall to 17-24 on the season.
