Dwight Howard after LeBron passed Kobe on scoring list: 'We should appreciate people while they’re alive'
"We don’t appreciate each other as much as we should as a humanity."
On Saturday night, LeBron James passed Kobe Bryant for third place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. It was an accomplishment that Kobe immediately congratulated LeBron on, and LeBron spoke fondly of Kobe’s impact on basketball after the game.
Dwight Howard’s reflection on LeBron’s accomplishment, though, couldn’t have been more prophetic.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Howard tried to put into perspective just how big it was that LeBron became the game’s third all-time leading scorer. He said that he felt people should appreciate others while they’re alive.
Again, these comments from Howard came on Saturday night — around 12 hours before Kobe Bryant died in a California helicopter crash with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.
Howard said:
“We don’t appreciate each other as much as we should as a humanity. Something like that should be appreciated. We should appreciate people while they’re alive, and accomplishments like that is something we don’t typically see.”
There’s no way Howard could have predicted how relevant those comments would have been, but there’s no denying the truth of the message.
During Howard’s first stint with the Lakers, he and Kobe had a rocky relationship. The two patched matters up as Howard joined the Lakers this season, and Howard even spoke of collaborating with Kobe in the dunk contest.