Recently, Howard talked about Kobe in an interview with Rachel Nichols.
Howard said: "At that time, we were in different stages of our respective careers. I was injured and I came to a new team. At that time, I felt that I would also be the core of the Lakers' team building. Kobe thought that it would always be his team. I thought he wanted to see how much I really wanted to succeed. We lacked communication at that time. When I returned to the Lakers in 2020, he knew how much I wanted to win the championship."
source:7m vn1