Former All-Star center Brook Lopez became the Brooklyn Nets' franchise scoring leader last season after nine years with the team, but after the team seemed to have shifted its attention to acquiring young talent, rumors about his potential trade roamed around throughout his last couple of seasons.

He was then moved to the Los Angeles Lakers in return for D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov during the offseason, a move that left no room for any surprises.

Brook Lopez, lakers
Ty Nowell/Lakers.com

“I understood,” Lopez told Greg Logan of Newsday on Wednesday, two days before facing his former team for the first time Friday night in Los Angeles. “I got it. It didn’t surprise me. They’d been talking about doing stuff before, and I had heard rumors before about going other places. So, it didn’t shock me at all.”

“I couldn’t do anything about it. So, I was just trying to prepare myself for whatever eventuality, and once it happened, I got down to business out here and got to work.”

Brook Lopez; as well as his twin brother Robin, was raised in North Hollywood, a cruise away from the Staples Center — making going back to his roots a rather easy process to go through.

“I was in Brooklyn working out, and I got a call from the team and they let me know,” Lopez said. “So, I just got packed up and got out to L.A. that night, and I was in the gym the next morning.”

brook lopez, lakers
Instagram/Lakers

The Lakers big man admitted it's a special feeling knowing he'd play for the team he grew up rooting for, from his early days in high school to playing at Stanford University before breaking into the NBA.

“Playing for a team you grew up rooting for, there’s nothing cooler than that,” Lopez said. “My mom’s a fan of the team and my brothers are fans of the team.”