Dwight Howard was worried about the timetable of the Los Angeles Lakers to move on from the Kobe Bryant era if he re-signed with the team, according to sources.

Howard and his representatives told the Lakers that he would have a difficult time re-signing if Bryant remained beyond the final season of his contract in 13-14.

Bryant said publicly shortly before the Lakers' meeting with Howard that he planned to play two or three more seasons.

"How can it be Kobe's team and Dwight's team?" one source said. "It was about the passing of the torch."

Howard's camp asked if the Lakers at least considered using their amnesty provision on Bryant, according to sources.

The Lakers could have amnestied Bryant while shopping Pau Gasol and Steve Nash to teams with cap space to potentially re-sign Howard and also sign Chris Paul. But the Lakers made it clear that they would allow Bryant to decide his own future with the club.

Sources say Howard didn't feel especially close with anyone inside the Lakers except for Mitch Kupchak. Howard also had concerns about how the Lakers would market him and had been disappointed with that aspect during his lone season with the franchise.