“Was One of the Guys Who Went and Got Osama”: Dwight Howard Explained Fundamental Difference Between Kobe and LeBron

Back in March 2025, Dwight Howard said one blunt remark about LeBron James got him "kicked off" the Lakers. That story is a reminder that Howard has never been shy about how he sees the league's biggest names. The eight-time All-Star has now left one of the starkest comparisons of Kobe Bryant and LeBron on record.

Howard drew the line using one of the most dramatic images possible.

"LeBron is a killer but Kobe was a mercenary," Howard said. "Kobe was one of the guys who went and got Osama Bin Laden. He was in that Seal Team 6. LeBron was standing outside."

The comparison is a metaphor, not a literal claim. Howard's point is that both stars were ruthless, but Bryant's ruthlessness was of a different kind. A killer finishes the job in front of him. A mercenary treats winning as a mission with no off-switch, and Howard's version of Kobe went in first.

Howard has the credibility to make that call. He played with both men, and neither stint was easy. He is one of the few players who shared a locker room with Bryant and later won a ring alongside James.

The two spells also ended very differently. Howard arrived in Los Angeles in 2012 hoping to learn from Bryant. In an interview that ran in Chinese-language media, he said he wanted to absorb as much as he could from the veteran, then take the leadership torch when Kobe left.

Instead, the partnership soured within a season. He left the Lakers as a free agent in 2013 and signed with the Houston Rockets.

Howard's description matched how the Bryant era played out. In 2013, Howard returned from a shoulder injury to play against the Celtics, and the Lakers lost. He later said he was not fully healthy and felt pressured to play, and he admitted being angry that Bryant had pushed him to play through it. "I expected him to protect his teammate," he said, according to Taiwanese outlet NOWnews.

Howard later told Jackie MacMullan he felt there was no real team in L.A. at the time, and he mentioned the shoulder episode as one example.

Howard has since softened his view. Speaking after Bryant's death in January 2020, he said, "We should appreciate people while they are alive." That was a different Howard from the one who had been frustrated seven years earlier, and he admitted he never got the chance to tell Bryant how he felt.

The LeBron James comparison is just as personal. Howard won the 2020 championship in the bubble as part of James' supporting cast. Howard then signed with the 76ers before returning to the Lakers for one more season.

Howard's March 2025 comments suggest he believes a single insult toward James cost him his spot. "I said that man, and I got kicked off the Lakers," he said. That contrasts with Kobe, who pushed teammates on the court rather than quietly letting things go.

For Howard, that is the difference. LeBron James is a killer who wins by dominating the game in front of him. Bryant was a mercenary who treated every possession like a mission that had to be completed.

Howard also has history against both men. In the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals, his Orlando Magic knocked out James' Cleveland Cavaliers. Three years later, he was in Bryant's locker room trying to learn how a five-time champion carried himself.

He has seen both from every angle: as the opponent, as the teammate, and as the player who didn't survive their respective power structures.

His statement lands because both men eventually earned their reputations through results. Bryant retired with five championships. James has four, and he is still active, with his place in the league's history already secure.

Whether you agree with Howard's take or not, it explains why his tale of two superstars stands out. Fans may still debate who the better player was. But Howard's view is that the two stars shared an edge and expressed it in opposite ways.