Julius Randle: “I Don’t Want To Be The Next Shaq, I Want To Be The Next Kobe”
The Los Angeles Lakers no. 7 overall draft pick Julius Randle had his best outing of training camp in the Lakers 94-86 preseason win against the Portland Trail Blazers last night. Randle posted 17 points (7-for-10) and 8 rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench.
At 6-foot-9, Randle possesses great size, but his skill set is more about his versatility. He’s a unique prospect. In his mind, he’s set on what Laker great he wants to be compared to.
Via Mark Medina of Insidesocal.com:
People used to tell me I’m going to be the next Shaq. I said, ‘I don’t want to be the next Shaq. I want to be the next Kobe.’ I always dribbled the ball everywhere I went.
When asked if this means he’ll develop a fade away jump shot, Randle laughed and replied,
I don’t know. I guess. You’ll see.
Randle garnered comparisons to Shaq when he started to develop rapidly in size at an early age. As a tweener forward, the trajectory for Randle doesn’t necessarily seem to point in Shaq or Kobe’s direction. If there was any way to reasonably combine the two, you would say that Randle has the skills to be both a guard and a bruiser on the interior. His desire to be “the next Kobe”, as aforementioned, basically came from his innate desire to be a guard. You still see that desire in his repertoire.
Being the first Julius Randle should be enough for the 19-year-old rookie out of Kentucky to work his way up the Laker food chain.
And in case you need proof of Randle’s comments, check the video below.
