Dwight Howard believes Kobe Bryant would have been fully supportive of his new “Dancing With the Stars” gig.
After making his ballroom debut Tuesday night, the NBA star exclusively spoke to Page Six about what he thinks his former teammate would have made of him joining Season 33 of the dance competition series.
“I think he would love it,” Howard said of Bryant. “We’ve been competitors, we watched each other, we played against each other in the [NBA] Finals, played on the same team, we won Olympics together. Pretty sure he’d be very proud.”
Bryant died in January 2020 at the age of 41 following a tragic helicopter crash that also resulted in the death of his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and several others.
The NBA legend was Howard’s teammate during the 2012-2013 season when they both played for the Los Angeles Lakers. They also took home gold while representing Team USA in the 2008 Olympics.
While the two notoriously had their ups and downs on the court, they were seemingly on good terms at the time of Bryant’s untimely death. Per ESPN, they were even planning to reunite for a dunk contest during All-Star Weekend in February 2020.
Still to this day, Howard fondly remembers the advice Bryant gave him over the years.
He told Page Six that he plans to take those same words of encouragement with him into the ballroom.
“[He said], ‘Always keep the main thing, the main thing,’” Howard shared. “And right now, ‘Dancing With the Stars’ is the main thing. So with that being said, every day that we’re on the dance floor, we treat it as such. And we’re having fun doing it.”
While Bryant never competed on “Dancing With the Stars” himself, he showed plenty of love to the dance competition show over the years.
Back in 2010, the “Dear Basketball” filmmaker and then-Lakers coach Phil Jackson made an appearance on Season 11 when NBA superstar Rick Fox competed with Cheryl Burke.
“It was crazy, I’ll never forget it. It was difficult to get them and this was our one and only chance,” Burke recalled of that experience, while talking to Page Six via Zoom on Wednesday.
“Kobe was really sweet and I could see the way that Rick really looked up to him. He was the best at what he did,” she added. “I also admire athletes like that, that have really dedicated their lives to becoming experts in their craft.”
In 2015, Bryant notably skipped out on watching a big NBA Playoffs game – and the NBA Draft Lottery – to attend the live taping of the dance competition show’s Season 20 finale. He posed for several pics in the ballroom at the time, including a snap with Val Chmerkovskiy moments after he won the mirrorball trophy with Rumer Willis.
Bryant also showed his support for fellow teammates Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom when they competed during Season 25 and Season 28, respectively.
“On the list of all the teammates that we’ve played with, I gotta say, yours was not at the top of the list as far as guys that would be on ‘Dancing With the Stars,’” Bryant joked in a surprise message to Fisher that aired on “Good Morning America” in 2017.
“It kinda shocked the hell out of me … [but] that being said, I wish you nothing but luck. Do your thing, my man! Get another championship.”
On the current season of “DWTS,” Howard, 38, has been paired up with pro dancer Daniella Karagach. The two made their premiere night debut by dancing a salsa to “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan.
The energetic, lift-filled routine received a combined score of 22/30 from judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli, placing them high up on the leaderboard.
“Dani is so amazing. She had me so calm before the storm,” Howard told Page Six just moments after wrapping their first live show together. “She just kept checking up on me, making sure I was good. She did amazing.”
Karagach, 31, previously won the Season 30 mirrorball trophy with fellow NBA star Iman Shumpert in 2021.
“I talked to him and Iman said that Dwight is going to be the best partner that I’ve had,” the pro dancer raved, to which Howard responded, “That’s big. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to hold up that mirrorball.”
While Karagach and Shumpert had to battle a significant height difference – the dancer standing at 5-foot-3 and the athlete at 6-foot-5 – it’s nothing like the one she and Howard are facing this season.
The 6-foot-11 basketball player and his pro partner revealed how they’re working around that in rehearsals. The biggest challenge, Karagach told us, is the “basics” of getting into frame.
“If he gets into full frame, for example, I can’t reach him,” she explained, showing us on camera. “We’re just going to have to adjust it in a way where it works for us, and just customize it.”
“Dancing With the Stars” airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+.
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