Before the Los Angeles Lakers acquired All-Star center Dwight Howard, there were plenty of rumors circulating around the league about the Lakers potentially pulling off the blockbuster deal in order to compete with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the west.

Reportedly, a month before the deal went down Lakers All-Star guard Kobe Bryant was talking all sorts of trash to his Team USA teammates in London about the reloaded Lakers roster.

Thunder All-Star forward Kevin Durant recently talked with Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports about Kobe's trash talking and bold predictions of Howard landing in L.A. to play alongside himself and two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash:

"Kobe called that a month before it happened," Durant told Yahoo! Sports while promoting his new movie "Thunderstruck."

"I didn't believe him. He was just like, 'We are going to have Dwight. We are going to have Steve Nash.' He just talks a lot of trash, jokes and laughs. But he said it. I don't think anyone paid attention to it but me and him. He said it and it happened. And they got better, a lot better."

It's hard to say who's to thank for the arrival of Howard. There's a good chance that Kobe had something to do with the deal, similarly to how he had influence on Nash's decision to join him in L.A.

But all thanks should go to GM Mitch Kupchak and company who were able to pull off the deal. The team improved across the board with two new superstars and two new role players to come off the bench in Antawn Jamison and Jodie Meeks.

The revamped roster of the Lakers will be serious force to be reckoned with moving forward and many big-name players like Durant are acknowledging the shift in power in Los Angeles.