Their once-icy relationship having thawed, Dwight Howard is seeking Kobe Bryant‘s support in the dunk contest during next month’s NBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago.
And the big fella wants Laker Nation to help him recruit his former teammate.
Howard, 34, says he approached the League about taking part in the popular midseason event.
Per ESPN:
“I’m trying to get Kobe,” Howard said after the Lakers’ 100-92 win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday. “So if I can get all the Laker fans to lobby to get Kobe to help me in the dunk contest, that’d be really good. That’d be awesome.”
Bryant and Howard’s lone season together on the Lakers in 2012-13 was tumultuous and drama-filled, but Howard — a late offseason signing after DeMarcus Cousins suffered a serious knee injury — has been embraced by L.A. as a key reserve player on the Lakers’ ascension back to the No. 1 team in the Western Conference.
“Have I asked him? Not yet,” he said. “Just got to get the fans behind me first. Setting the table. Need you guys. ‘Hey, Kobe, can you get in the dunk contest with Dwight?’ That’d be great.”
Howard revealed that he wasn’t actually asked to be in the dunk contest; it was the other way around.
“I reached out myself and told them I wanted to be in it, so it was like, ‘Oh, really?’ I was like, ‘Yeah,'” Howard said. “So here it is. I think I’m the oldest dunker in the dunk contest ever.”
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