“They making you worse, Kobe” – Julius Randle recalls Kobe Bryant calling Lakers ‘soft as Charmin’ & ‘trash’ during practice
Not many NBA players today had the chance to say that they've played with Kobe Bryant, but Julius Randle is one of the few who shared the court with the icon. During Randle's early years in the league, he had the chance to learn from the best and even have a well-known story about Bryant.
Randle was picked by the LA Lakers in 2014 with the No. 7 pick. The future looked bright for him, but he was only limited to one game after he broke his right tibia within 14 minutes of playing. During that year, his injury wasn't the only story that surrounded the Lakers.
The 6-foot-8 power forward shared the story of his experience regarding Bryant addressing the entire team that had suffered a handful of losses.
"I'm in the training room," Randle said. "I'm getting my rehab and stuff, and all I hear is, 'Soft as Charmin. Y'all motherf*****s trash.' Kobe got a deep a** voice, so you hear it, and he just going back and forth. I hear Nick (Young), 'You can't guard me.'
"Mitch Kupchak was our GM at the time, and Kobe leaving the court he was like, 'Mitch, I'm supposed to get better with this s***?' He walked in the locker room, he like, 'Ju, what the f*** is this? I'm supposed to practice? These motherf****** making me worse'.
"He just walked out, bro, dapped me up. I'm like, 'Yeah, they making you worse, Kobe'."
Julius Randle had the best seat for the Kobe & Lakers "soft as Charmin" practice 😅 https://t.co/WoWPsQpB09
The Lakers had a record of 6-16, which was not something that Bryant was used to after being so determined to win for his entire career. Los Angeles was also the NBA's worst defensive team at the time. Those reasons could have tipped the Black Mamba to his boiling point.
Kobe extremely unhappy on the practice court. "Now I see why we've lost so many games. We're soft like Charmin!"
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Kobe Bryant loved how Julius Randle matched up against Kevin Garnett
In 2015, Julius Randle got back on the court to play for the Lakers. Kobe Bryant was playing his final year in the league. Ironically, Kevin Garnett was back with the Minnesota Timberwolves, playing his last season as well.
Early in the season, the Lakers and Wolves were matched up, and KG and Randle started going at it. Naturally, the Big Ticket wasn't one to back down and try to school the younger player. But Randle held his ground and didn't fold in front of his team and Kobe.
VIDEO: Kevin Garnett welcomes Lakers' Julius Randle to NBA with trash talk ble.ac/1MX45KF https://t.co/zdrEmRitcy
After the game, Bryant was asked about what he thought about the scuffle between the two forwards. The five-time champion was impressed with how Randle responded and was genuinely happy to see him competitive:
"He responded like Julius Randle. ... He's not intimidated by anybody."
"He responded like Julius Randle...He's not intimidated by anybody"
— Kobe Bryant on Kevin Garnett confronting Lakers rookie Julius Randle https://t.co/3whPabqtTz
Also read: "That’s crazy, y’all trippin"- When Gary Payton couldn't believe Kobe Bryant had tragically passed away in a helicopter crash in 2020