After only completing a string of exhibition games, Julius Randle heard some life-altering feedback that Kobe Bryant delivered with brutal honesty.
“If you [bleep] this up, you’re a really big idiot,” Bryant told Randle.
Mere moments after stepping on the practice court, Jordan Clarkson wound up defending Bryant and soon experienced the scorn most defenders experience after the Lakers’ star scores on them.
“Don’t hurt yourself young fella,” Bryant said to Clarkson after sinking a mid-range jumper over him.
Both Randle and Clarkson still have limited perspective playing with Bryant. Randle played only 14 minutes in the NBA season opener last year before fracturing his right tibia and missing the rest of his rookie season.