NBA Free Agency News 2013: Dwight Howard Calls Himself a ‘Winner’ Despite Walking Away From Los Angeles Lakers

Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard still believes he is a "winner" despite walking away from a storied franchise like the Los Angeles Lakers this summer.

In a phone interview with Hoopsworld moments after his decision to join the Rockets on Friday, Howard said the reports about Kobe Bryant telling him how to be a winner during his meeting with the Lakers was kind of twisted. However, he added that he believes he's still a winner anyway.

"He didn't say anything of that sort. People twisted a lot of stuff that he said. But in my personal opinion, I'm a winner. I'm a winner because I've been playing for nine years when the average career for an NBA player is three years. I'm a winner because I made it to the NBA from a small school in Atlanta, GA, with 16 people in a class. I'm a winner because I'm succeeding in life.

"I've had problems and I'm not better than the next man, but I'm going to push myself to be a winner when it comes to winning a championship. But he didn't say anything like that and a lot of people twisted what he did say," said Howard.  

The decision of Howard to leave the Lakers for the Houston Rockets angered purple-and-gold fans and apparently even Bryant, who decided to 'unfollow' the All-Star bigman on Twitter.

Nevertheless, Howard is very much confident he's right in his decision to join the Rockets, believing the young and talented core of the team gives him better opportunity to win an NBA title.

"Ah man, I'm very excited. I'm very excited. I'm looking forward to it. I've been in contact with James and we've just been talking about developing a good relationship so we can lead that team as far as we can. We've been talking about winning championships," Howard told Hoopsworld on Friday.