The aftermath of Dwight Howard's departure from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Houston Rockets still continues to make headlines as many speculate on what really caused the All-Star center to forgo the opportunity to play for such an historic franchise.
Though many point to Howard's unwillingness to play under coach Mike D'Antoni's system as being one of the contributing factors, many have also begun to point fingers at Lakers guard Kobe Bryant for being the reason why Howard packed his bags for H-town.
In a new interview with the Los Angeles Daily News, Metta World Peace shares how he knew Howard was going to choose the Rockets after Bryant made it publicly known that he wants to continue to play past his contract, which is at the end of the upcoming season.
"I always knew Dwight was going to Houston. Things weren't clicking. Once Kobe said he could come back for three years, I knew Dwight was going to Houston."
It's well known that Howard wanted to be the immediate face of the Lakers and wasn't excited about playing under Bryant's shadow, but World Peace offered more reasoning that could have played into Howard's decision.
"It's not about being the guy," World Peace said. "It's about clicking. Dwight never wanted to be the guy. Dwight did have some flaws just like anybody. Everybody has flaws. But Dwight just wanted to be comfortable. He wasn't comfortable [here]. But once that happened [with Bryant's comments], I knew Dwight wasn't coming back. I knew he wasn't going to come back."
Since leaving for the Rockets, the Lakers' front office has done a fair job signing free agents this offseason considering the limited financial contracts they could offer. They've also positioned themselves to make a solid push to sign big named free agents in 2014.
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