by Reid Cherner, USA TODAY

Dwight Howard says Kobe Bryant has been taking him to school for years.

And he means that in the best possible sense.

Talking to Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated, the Lakers center would like to dispel any notion that he didn’t want to join a team with Bryant on it.

“What people don’t know is that this is one of the guys who I’ve been talking to for about four years now,” said Howard, who won an Olympic gold medal with Bryant in 2008. “And he has been an amazing help to me, just pushing me in ways — secretly because we played in the Eastern and Western Conference . But it’s been him just talking to me, showing me how to do certain things with my team and things with my team and things like that.”

Howard said he asked Kobe to “push me every day” and says Bryant told him “I’m going to push you, because I see something in you, and I want to make sure that I do my part.”

… [For more on Dwight Howard was under Kobe Bryant's wing years ago, click here.]