Julius Randle took a massive leap in his fourth NBA season, averaging 16.1 points and 8.0 rebounds, leading the team in both categories (tied with Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram for scoring).
Randle also scored efficiently with his bully-ball style, shooting 55.8 percent from the field while becoming the only Laker to play in all 82 games.
Below is a summary of his exit interview with the assembled media.
- Randle started the season by coming off the bench, but eventually became one of the Lakers’ most impactful starters. He said that as the season progressed, he gained more confidence: “I think it made me kind of who I am as a player and a person.”
- The 23-year-old is an unrestricted free agent this summer. He didn’t discuss his contract status much during his exit interview with Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka: “They just said that they’ll be in contact and in talks with my agent. We’ll see what happens.”
- Playing all 82 games was a huge deal for Randle, whose rookie season didn’t even last one game.
“Honestly, for me only playing 14 minutes my rookie year and breaking my leg,” he said. “To be able to play all 82, that was really cool for me. … That was, for me, a huge accomplishment. Something I’m really proud of for sure.”
- Early in his career, much was made about Randle needing to have a more reliable jumper and right-hand finish. But he was able to impose his will this season mainly by honing the skills he came brought with him into the NBA.
“I feel like I have a foundation of how I want to play,” he said. “Because of that, there’s so much room for me to grow because I know how I want to play. If you look at every star in the game, everyone has tendencies.”
- In fact, Randle relayed some advice that Kobe Bryant gave him when they were teammates: “If you want to be unguardable, the trick is for everyone to know what you're going to do and they still can’t stop it.”