The LA Lakers are one win away from advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010. LA had success during their last trip to the Finals as the team defeated the Boston Celtics. 

After their Game 4 win over the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, Dwight Howard gave a Kobe Bryant reference during the postgame interview.

Dwight Howard making an impact in his second stint with the Lakers

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In the offseason, the Lakers were gearing up to make a push for the NBA Finals. With the addition of Anthony Davis, the Lakers were already a stacked team. Adding Howard gave the team an advantage down in the paint. The Lakers had two talented big men in JaVale McGee and Howard. During the regular season, Howard took a back seat role coming off the bench. 

He’s been a productive player coming off the bench during the season and in the playoffs. Howard was the right replacement for the Lakers when they let go of Demarcus Cousins. During the regular season, Howard played in 69 games while starting two of them. He averaged 7.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game. Though Howard averaged a career-low in points and rebounds, he still has been a valuable asset to the Lakers.

In his first season with the Lakers, he averaged 17.1 points and 12.4 rebounds during the 2012-13 season. The Lakers finished that season with a 45-37 record and made the playoffs, losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round. When Howard first joined the Lakers, he finished an impressive career in Orlando where he led the Magic to the NBA Finals in 2009. The Lakers thought that Howard would boost the team and get them back to the finals, but that never happened. Now he has a chance to make the finals with the Lakers this year and win his first championship.

Dwight Howard making a Kobe Bryant reference in a postgame interview

Howard started Game 4 for the Lakers and had an impressive performance. He finished the game with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. His presence down in the paint has helped the Lakers a lot during the season and playoffs. After the team’s win, a reporter asked Howard about the team’s mentality going into Game 5.

Howard’s response was very familiar to a former NBA star’s response. “It’s simple. Job’s not finished,” Howard said. Now you may have heard that quote from another Laker 11 years ago. That’s right, Kobe Bryant said the same quote during the 2009 NBA Finals.

Kobe Bryant’s ‘Job Not Finish’ quote is iconic

During the 2009 NBA Finals, the Lakers just defeated the Magic to take a 2-0 series lead. Bryant scored 29 points to lead the Lakers to a 101-96 victory. After the victory, a reporter asked Bryant if he was happy about being up 2-0 in the series and Bryant’s response was a response that only he would make.

“What’s there to be happy about? Job not finished, Job finished? I don’t think so,” Bryant said. That response was from Bryant’s ‘Mamba Mentality,’ and though his team had a 2-0 series lead, he knew that the series wasn’t over yet. So he was not satisfied until he held that trophy up for the fourth time in his career. Bryant was always determined to perform each game and wanted to be a winner at all costs.