LeBron James and Kobe Bryant were like chalk and cheese when it came to their approaches.

Former Lakers big man and current Dancing with the Stars contestant Dwight Howard is one of the few people who saw both NBA legends up close and personal.

Howard has three separate stints with the LakersGetty

Howard was traded to the purple and gold in 2012 in the hopes that he could help Bryant win another world championship.

However, the former Orlando Magic man’s first stint in Tinseltown was marred by injuries and chemistry issues, and he was subsequently traded to the Houston Rockets a year later as public enemy No. 1.

‘D12’ had two other stints with the Lakers during his career, one of which was when LeBron led the team to a championship in 2020 in the Orlando bubble.

The three-time Defensive Player of the Year, who is now playing in the Far East for the Taiwan Mustangs, recently opened up about playing alongside LeBron and Kobe and the major difference between the iconic pair.

Howard revealed that King James was much more relaxed in his approach to games, often joking around and acting silly.

Bryant, on the other hand, was laser focused, and sometimes wouldn’t even say a word to, or even acknowledge, his teammates before practice.

“LeBron almost acts like somebody from the southside in Georgia,” Howard said on the ‘My Expert Opinion’ show.

“We acted kinda like twins — joking, silly, having a good time. We’d get on the court, and we’re still gonna have a good time, but we’d dominate.”

“Kobe ain’t bulls–tting with nobody,” the 38-year-old went on.

“He might not come in the locker room and talk. Everybody is like, ‘So he’s gonna walk all the way past us, not dap anybody up, give a head nod, or nothing?’ He would just walk past us. That’s just how he would come in.

Kobe’s no-nonsense approach was in stark contrast to James’Getty

James was far more jovial before games but still wanted to dominateGetty

“I guess, because now looking back on it, he was probably just doing it to get everybody ready for practice because we were too loud. He’d come in there, and we’re joking around and laughing. He was just different in his approach.”

Bryant embodied his Black Mamba persona and the Mamba Mentality that came with his alter ego.

He was famously aloof as he strove to be the best basketball player he could be, and often fell out with his teammates — most famously Shaquille O’Neal — because of it.

Kobe’s time with Howard was also fraught with tension. Howard was upset that he was not getting the ball enough in the early days and felt that Bryant was shooting way too much.

Kobe, meanwhile, questioned Howard’s desire to play through pain. Dwight took six months off from basketball after back surgery and had shoulder issues later on in the season.

Bryant urged Howard to play through it, saying at the time: “We don’t have time for (Howard’s shoulder) to heal.

“We need some urgency.”

Howard and Bryant didn’t see eye to eyeGetty

He also said that Howard “worries too much” and “doesn’t want to let anyone down”.

Howard later commented that Bryant was “not a doctor, I’m not a doctor. That’s his opinion.”

Over a decade has passed since then, and Howard recently opened up about the challenges of playing with Bryant and how he originally did not want to be traded to the Lakers.

“It was difficult playing with Kobe. Because one, it’s the expectation of winning and then two, it’s like everybody expected me and Kobe to be like the new Kobe and Shaq,” Howard told Gilbert Arenas on Gil’s Arena Live with Gilbert Arenas.

“And I’m just coming off an injury, I’m still dealing with all the mental shit from Orlando and now I got to go to L.A. and I’m playing with Kobe Bryant. I watched him play, they beat us in the Finals.

“One, I was already p***** because I had to go to L.A. and nobody ever knew I didn’t want to go to L.A. I didn’t want to go to the Lakers because I wanted to beat the Lakers, they just beat us in the Finals. So in my mind, I was like why would I go to the team that just beat us?

“I wanted to go to Brooklyn and just start my whole career over. But I got sent to L.A. and I was like we’re gonna come back and try to win in L.A. It didn’t work out and I made an emotional decision to leave.

“I do regret that, just making a decision based off my emotions and how I was feeling… how the fans were, how I felt the organization was during that time with me and Kobe. I didn’t really make a smart, logical decision, I just made an emotional decision at the time.”

Howard returned to the Lakers in 2019 and won a title that seasonGetty

Howard ultimately got his shot at redemption with the Lakers.

The veteran center was brought back to the organization in 2019.

Unlike his first stint in LA, the chemistry was on point. Howard’s experience, leadership, and hustle was a big reason why they won the title a year later — a matter of months after Bryant’s tragic death.

Howard left later that year but returned for a third time in 2021.

A stacked Lakers roster failed to make the playoffs, though, and in 2022 Howard signed with the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League in Taiwan.