Ahead of the Houston Rockets' opening night game at the Los Angeles Lakers, Dwight Howard said his free agency decision in 2013 had nothing to do with Kobe Bryant.

"I didn't leave L.A. because I was afraid of Kobe Bryant," Howard said Tuesday, according to the Houston Chronicle. "I went to a good situation for myself. I can't change people's opinions, but I did what I had to do for myself."

A report from ESPN's Henry Abbott last week suggested Bryant was part of the reason why Howard left, while Byron Scott also theorized on the departure.

"My outside perspective is Kobe is a real serious guy and wants to win championships," Scott said Monday. "I don't know if Dwight is that serious about it. I know No. 24 is. I think that probably was the clash."

Howard told reporters he had "no response" to Scott's comments.

"It's over with now. There's no need to continue to talk about it. It happened. We played together for a year," Howard said of his time in L.A. with Bryant, according to the Chronicle. "The whole team was injured, didn't really get an opportunity to do what we all set out to do.

"Things happen. Life happens. I think everybody needs to move forward from the situation and worry about their respective teams."