Bryant Talks Injury, Dwight Howard

Oct 30, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant (24) behind the bench during the third quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 125-94. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Dwight Howard made his first appearance against the Los Angeles Lakers since leaving them for the Houston Rockets during this past summer’s free agency. And, of course, Kobe Bryant was asked questions regarding Howard.

"“I think he’ll have a great year. He’s always very determined to be more of an offensive player. Here in Houston he’ll have the opportunity to do that. He always wanted to compete with some of the all-time greats, the Chamberlains and Shaqs and Olajuwons and so forth. This year should be the year where he starts putting up those kind of numbers — 25, 26 (points per game), stuff like that.”"

Kobe also said that he talks to Dwight Howard everyday, sarcastically, of course.

Another topic that came up was Kobe’s injury. Bryant said that he didn’t have a timetable yet, but was working as hard as he could to get back.

"“The hardest thing is the conditioning and getting back and playing at a high level and being able to run and play at a high level for 48 minutes. (It) is tough, man. You really have to push yourself conditioning wise to get in shape … get down to feeling really comfortable, feeling strong, working through the fatigue first of running straight forward. Once the endurance is there you start doing more lateral things.”"

Hopefully the Black Mamba can return sooner, rather than later. The Lakers have been able to stay afloat without him so far, but no one knows how sustainable that is. It will be nice to have Kobe Bryant back.