Kawhi Leonard caught a lot of people by surprise when he chose the Los Angeles Clippers over Los Angeles Lakers in free agency. However, NBA legend Kobe Bryant is not one of them.

Bryant shared his thoughts on what he thinks were the factors that led Leonard to choose the Clippers. According to Kobe, Leonard wants to establish something new in LA.

LeBron James already has his thing going with the Lakers, so the obvious choice was to go to the Clippers. Bryant thinks that's also the case for Paul George.

“I’m sure Kawhi wants to take the challenge of winning independent of playing with LeBron,” Bryant said, per Arash Markazi of the Los Angeles Times.

“Maybe that was the same for P.G. I think they relish the challenge of taking on something new. I don’t think it was a slight at the Lakers. It was more about circumstances and what was already here in L.A. and on the Lakers, and they wanted to take the challenge of building something new.”

Leonard's move definitely disappointed some Purple and Gold fans. After all, following the Anthony Davis trade, the Lakers front office was still looking to lure the defensive stalwart.

However, Bryant assured the fans that this version of the Lakers will be just fine.

“But the Lakers did OK. I saw a lot of Lakers fans were very disappointed, and rightfully so, that they didn’t get Kawhi,” Kobe added. “But you did get Anthony Davis. The Lakers have two freaks of nature. They’re going to be fine. It’s a hell of a time to be in L.A.”

Although Lakers fans didn't get the best-case scenario, it will still bode well for LA basketball. For the first time in quite a while, both LA teams have a legitimate shot at the title. It doesn't get any better than that!