Los Angeles Lakers rookie Larry Nance Jr. recently revealed that Kobe Bryant had a little challenge for him involving former Laker, Dwight Howard.
After Nance’s massive dunk over Milwaukee Bucks big man John Henson, Kobe told the rookie that he won’t be impressed until he does the same over Howard.
With the Lakers and Rockets set to square off, Howard responded to the news saying he laughed at it before saying that it won’t happen according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News:
“I saw it and just laughed at it,” Howard said following the Houston Rockets shootaround on Wednesday at the Clippers’ practice facility in Playa del Rey. Moments later, Howard turned serious on if he would allow Nance Jr. to posterize him […] “No,” Howard said. “It’s either going to be a hard foul or a block.”
This has surely brought a lot more intrigue to this game. The Rockets beat the Lakers by 29 points less than a week ago, but now the possibility of Nance and Howard meeting at the rim is sure to have everyone buzzing.
Howard even brought up the famous Kobe posterization of himself during his rookie year in 2004. While noting that even though Kobe got him that time, Howard has racked up plenty of blocks since then.
Anytime Howard steps foot on the Staples Center floor, he is greeted to a large amount of boos as fans will never forgive him for leaving the Lakers to join the Rockets. If Nance is able to complete Kobe’s challenge, however, it will make for a massive moment in the rookie’s career, and a crowd explosion at Staples.
