LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are two of the greatest basketball players ever to step on a court, but their approaches could not have been more different. As former Los Angeles Lakers star Dwight Howard explained, James and Bryant had very different mindsets at practice.
Howard has spent three short stints with the Lakers throughout his career. One of them was spent with Bryant in 2012-13 after the Orlando Magic traded him to Los Angeles. The other two were spent with James, and one of which was the team’s championship season in 2019-20.
On the “My Expert Opinion” show, Howard said James took a more laid-back approach around the facility. Howard explained that James isn’t afraid to cut up before and after practice, but he knows when it’s time to go to work.
“LeBron almost acts like somebody from the southside in Georgia,” Howard said. “We acted kinda like twins — joking, silly, having a good time. We’d get on the court, and we’re still gonna have a good time, but we’d dominate.”
According to Howard, that was the polar opposite of how Bryant approached the game. Howard said there were days where Bryant wouldn’t say a word to, or even acknowledge, his teammates before practice. With the benefit of hindsight, Howard now believes Bryant was trying to set a tone for practice.
“Kobe ain’t bulls–tting with nobody,” Howard said. “He might not come in the locker room and talk. Everybody is like, ‘So he’s gonna walk all the way past us, not dap anybody up, give a head nod, or nothing?’ He would just walk past us. That’s just how he would come in. I guess, because now looking back on it, he was probably just doing it to get everybody ready for practice because we were too loud. He’d come in there, and we’re joking around and laughing. He was just different in his approach.”
If anything, Howard’s stories show that there are multiple ways to have success in the NBA. Bryant was famous for his Black Mamba mindset, which helped him develop a 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁er instinct in clutch moments. James seems to be at least a little more relaxed, but the two players have nine championships between them.
