Kobe Bryant On Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard Trash Talking- LA Lakers Star Regrets Things Said 'In The Heat Of The Moment'

Kobe Bryant had some choice words for missing Houston Rockets star Dwight Howard after his LA Lakers scored their first back-to-back win of the year, saying anything goes in the "heat of battle". 

After Kobe's Lakers furiously came back to snatch a 98-92 win against the Rockets in Houston, Kobe told reporters after the game that while Dwight sat out with a sore right knee, he wouldn't back up fellow superstar Kevin Durant, who reportedly called Dwight a "pussy" during a recent matchup. 

"In moments of confrontation during a game, you'll say things in the heat of the moment," ESPN report Kobe saying at his post-game press conference. 

"I know Dwight," he continued according to ESPN's Baxter Holmes. "I'm sure Kevin does. We don't really feel that way about him. It's like when you get in an argument with somebody, you'll say things out of frustration, out of anger, that you don't really mean." 

Kobe added that he;s not worried about trash talk in general, just as long as it stays on the court. "In the moment? No," Bryant pointed out. "In hindsight? Yes, especially now with social media. Everybody has a camera. You try to be conscious as possible in the fact that kids are watching."

Kobe, of course, went after Dwight earlier this year, reportedly calling him "soft" - among other things - during the Lakers-Rockets Oct. 28 matchup, when Dwight caught Kobe on the chin with an errant elbow. 

Kobe and Dwight were Lakers teammates for the 2012-13 NBA season, when the Lakers struggled with expectation and injuries before being swept in the first round of that season's playoffs. Howard left for the Houston Rockets in free agency after that lone year as a Laker. 

Howard is currently being looked at by Georgia authorities regarding a child abuse case involving his son, and the fact that he sat out the game came out of nowhere, says Los Angeles Daily News reporter Mark Medina. He reported, "The injury was a surprise considering Howard attended the team's morning shootaround. There, a Rockets official promptly cut off a reporter's question about Howard being investigated for child abuse."

What do you think; should Kobe go after Dwight harder after the way he left the Lakers? Or is it gracious of Kobe to say that such trash talk should stay on the court?