Lakers unhappy with Kobe Bryant?

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard could remain with his team for the rest of the season and become a free agent this summer or get traded before the March 15 trade deadline.

Either way, the word is that he isn't interested in going to the Los Angeles Lakers, according to Sports Illustrated.

"Close friends of Howard say he was, in fact, informed that [Kobe] Bryant sees him as a second or third option on a championship-caliber team if he came to Los Angeles," SI reports. That idea might not sit well with Howard, but it really doesn't sit well with the Lakers' owners, the Buss family.

The family "is said to be irked by Bryant's alleged role in the matter and hopeful that Howard — who they see as the business and basketball draw for the next decade — can still be convinced otherwise," Sports Illustrated reports. However, Howard is still focused on the New Jersey Nets, according to SI.

There is always drama in L.A.

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