Kobe Bryant's been in Dwight Howard's shoes before. In his prime, after a rollercoaster season alongside Shaquille O'Neal, Bryant spent the summer of 2004 mulling his choices as an unrestricted free agent. This summer, Bryant is the old vet, and before Howard picks his suitor, Bryant would like to make the final pitch to the Lakers All-Star center. With a long rehabilitation still ahead of him, Bryant is still searching for new ways to save the franchise.
Via SI.com:
For me, you kind of let him do his due diligence and then move in and talk to him and figure out if this is a place he wants to be,” Bryant said in a wide-ranging interview with ESPN Los Angeles’ Dave McMenamin.
“We all want him here. But then that’s when the selling begins [after Howard is courted by other teams]. You don’t start the selling process right before he goes and does all this stuff. You want to get the last word. You want to have the final word and the closing argument.
“I’ll give him a little opening statement, but then I have to make sure I have the final word.”
