Heading into his fourth season with the purple and gold, Los Angeles Lakers forward Julius Randle sits down for an interview to chat about how this season feels different from years prior.
Drafted with the seventh overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, Randle (along with Jordan Clarkson) are the longest tenured Lakers on a team that has been through two coaching changes, a front office overhaul and a move to a brand new facility in the past few years.
In addition to that, No. 2 draft pick Lonzo Ball has been given the keys and is leading the next era of Lakers basketball. How is the energy different this season? What is their biggest focus?
Plus, since we’re at the Dew NBA 3X Tournament, who would he choose for his 3-on-3 squad? And, did Randle get a chance to work out with Kobe Bryant this summer?
Interview highlights
“A great guy…he’s (Lonzo’s) got a lot (of hype) around him and he doesn’t feel the need to live up to the hype, he just goes out there and plays basketball the right way and tries to win, and is a super humble kid, so I have nothing but high praises for Zo.”
“The whole training camp has been defense…Offensively everyone is going to get better and everyone is going to take a step forward but for us to win games, we’ve got to be able to get stops because scoring is not going to be the problem for us.”
“Hopefully leading by example, my energy and my effort.”