Kobe Bryant ‘unfollows’ former teammate Dwight Howard on Twitter

Now that Dwight Howard has made his intentions known, preparing to join the Houston Rockets when the NBA’s moratorium ends on July 10, Kobe Bryant quietly made a statement.

After “unfollowing” Howard on Twitter, Bryant put a picture on Instagram featuring teammate Pau Gasol with his hand on Bryant’s head.

With the picture, Bryant wrote “#vamos #juntos #lakercorazon #vino.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Dwight Howard and the Lakers

His message, roughly translated from Spanish reads, “We go, united -- Laker heart,” along with Bryant’s nickname of “Vino.”

With Howard out, Gasol is far-more likely to return for the final year of his contract with the Lakers.

While the team will save significant luxury tax without Howard, the Lakers have only about $3.2 million to spend in free agency to try to replace the All-Star center.

Next year the Lakers stand to have significant cap room, with the potential to add two maximum players to join Bryant - assuming the veteran guard is willing to return on a discount from the $30.5 million he’ll receive this season.

Gasol will make $19.3 million. Currently the Lakers have $77.4 million of guaranteed salary next season.

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Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.