There have been a number of famous stories involving the late, great Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant that demonstrate how ruthless he was on the basketball court. Oftentimes, it was directed at his opposition, but sometimes it was Kobe’s own teammates who caught his wrath and a young Julius Randle got to witness one of the most famous moments.
Early on in the 2015 season, Bryant, who didn’t practice regularly at the time, was participating in a full scrimmage and was not happy with what he saw from his Lakers teammates. This led to him famously exclaiming that the team was “soft like Charmin” as he left the practice court, a moment that was captured on video by Lakers Nation:
Randle, who was a rookie on the Lakers, was rehabbing his broken leg suffered on opening night and thus had an up close and personal view of everything that went down that day and recalled the practice on the latest episode of Podcast P with Paul George:
Julius Randle had the best seat for the Kobe & Lakers "soft as Charmin" practice ? pic.twitter.com/WoWPsQpB09
— Podcast P with Paul George (@PodcastPShow) June 19, 2023
It had to be a surreal moment for a rookie like Randle witnessing Bryant go off on his teammates in that manner. Kobe’s work ethic is the stuff of legends and he enters every day looking to get better. If he doesn’t feel that his teammates are doing the same and giving everything they have, then he will let it be known as Randle found out that day.
Of course at that point, the Lakers were in the midst of an awful start to what would become the worst season in franchise history at that point, so there was reason to be frustrated. But the image of Randle simply agreeing with everything Kobe was saying is a humorous one as he wasn’t part of the soft crew on the court because he was injured.
Guys like Nick Young and Jeremy Lin were not as lucky, however.
There just seems to be no limit on entertaining Kobe Bryant stories and years from now there will likely still be more players revealing amazing stories on the Lakers legend.
Phil Handy expects LeBron James to return to the Lakers next season
The superstar who eventually inherited the torch from Bryant and led the Lakers to their next championship was LeBron James. Following the end of his 20th NBA season, LeBron said he would consider retiring, but most continue to believe he will be suiting up in purple and gold next season.
This includes Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy, who spoke at a press conference overseas and noted that ‘the plan’ is for LeBron to be back with the Lakers for his 21st season next year.
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