In Jahlil Okafor’s eyes, it was an easy decision. Both of them.

The New Orleans center explained after Thursday’s practice that he immediately wanted to recognize the legacy of Kobe Bryant by changing his uniform from No. 8, as several other NBA players have done since Bryant’s tragic death Sunday. Okafor’s choice to wear “9” on his jersey for the rest of this season was a result of a simple recommendation.

“It was definitely a no-brainer,” Okafor said of no longer wearing one of Bryant’s two NBA uniform numbers. “With everything that is going on, I think it’s a no-brainer.”

Okafor noted that Bryant made an impact on Okafor as a 19-year-old Philadelphia rookie, after Okafor had a well-publicized run-in with a fan in Boston after a loss to the Celtics. The 76ers were 0-16 to open that 2015-16 season.

“I went through an incident my rookie season and had a lot of bad publicity,” Okafor said. “(Bryant) talked to me and told me not to worry about the outside noise, and let me realize that everybody makes mistakes. Just hearing that from Kobe Bryant at the time, because it was the first time for me being in a negative spotlight, it really meant a lot and took a lot of pressure off my back, having Kobe Bryant tell you that.”

In terms of picking No. 9, the 24-year-old said he didn’t dwell on the decision-making process much, opting to heed advice of other Pelicans players.

“Number 9, my teammates thought it was a good idea,” Okafor said. “I didn’t want to put too much thought into it, especially in the middle of the season. I think Lonzo (Ball) told me he thought 9 would be a cool number, so I went with it.”