Jeremy Lin: Dwight Howard Was Very Nice To Me, Great Heart

Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant likely won’t be exchanging Christmas cards anytime soon, but Kobe’s backcourt partner Jeremy Lin said he still shares a good relationship with his former teammate Howard.

Lin, who played with Howard on the Houston Rockets before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, said he still gets along well with the much-maligned big man.

In an interview on “Connected With…” on TWC SportsNet, Lin explained that he still gets along well with both Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant:

“People might not like me for saying it, but Dwight was tremendous to me, very nice to me, great heart, very generous. My relationship with Kobe has been different… When I signed, right from the start he was trying to get me to work out with him and then he’s been teaching me and teaching me… At this stage in his career, he’s definitely been taking me under his wing and really just trying to teach me as much as he can.”

It’s likely that Kobe and Dwight don’t share such a good relationship themselves. When the teams met on opening night, Howard caught a rebound and was immediately pressured by Kobe. Dwight responded by throwing his elbows to create some space, and ended up connecting with Kobe’s chin.

The two then exchanged words, with Kobe calling Dwight “soft.”

“He elbowed me in the face, and I’m gonna let him know, I don’t like that,” Bryant said after the game. “It’s that simple.”

“It’s fantastic,” Bryant added. “That’s the game. That’s all part of the game. Elbows are a part of the game. Trash-talking is part of the game. I don’t know where the NBA became so sensitive. It’s all part of it.”

While Kobe may have tried to downplay it, Lakers coach Byron Scott made it more clear. He said that Kobe and Dwight Howard “don’t like each other, simple as that.”

[Image via OnlyAGame]