Dwight Howard Had to be Restrained From Going After Kobe Bryant According to Report

The Los Angeles Lakers dropped another home game last night, losing to the Denver Nuggets 112-105. The Lakers big three seemed to do okay; Kobe Bryant had 29 points, Dwight Howard had 14 points and 26 rebounds and Steve Nash added 13 assists and 10 points. It obviously wasn't enough, but it's something that happend on New Year's day in a loss to Philadelphia that is now making headlines.

According to the New York Daily News, Howard had to be pulled back by teammates from going after Bryant after Bryant reportedly called Howard soft. A few days later, Howard was complaining about the team's lack of chemistry after getting beat by the Clippers.

"Look at the difference between our team and (the Clippers)," Howard said. "They just play together. They share the ball. Everybody's excited when something happens."

Yeah, pretty obvious what he was talking about. Kobe is averaging an NBA high 30.5 points per game, but he's also leading the league with 726 shot attempts. Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook is second with 607. That's a crapload of shots Bryant is taking, especially with the talent he has around him who were supposed to help lighten the load on Kobe. Still, Bryant is also shooting far higher than his career percentage, .481 this year compared to .454.

The Lakers are 15-18 and sit three spots out of the eighth seed in the Western Conference. That's not anywhere near where they hoped or were expected to be. There's still time to get things figured out and make the playoffs, but right now it's not looking like the Lakers would get out of the first round anyway.

via NY Daily News