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Lakers' Julius Randle: 'I want to be the next Kobe'

Gary A. Vasquez / USA Today Sports

There's something to be said for setting high expectations.

That's what Los Angeles Lakers rookie Julius Randle is doing as he begins his NBA career in the Forum Blue and gold. It may take some time to get there, but the No. 7 overall pick - the highest selection the Lakers have made since they took James Worthy first overall in 1982 - wants to eventually assume his mentor's mantle.

“People used to tell me I’m going to be the next Shaq,” Randle said Wednesday, according to Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News. “I said, ‘I don’t want to be the next Shaq. I want to be the next Kobe.’ I always dribbled the ball everywhere I went.”

The Shaquille O'Neal comparison came because the 6-foot-9 Randle was very large at a young age, but his body settled somewhere between Shaq's and Bryant's. Playing power forward doesn't mean he can't learn on the job from Bryant, though, an opportunity Black Mamba has said Randle would be an "idiot" to mess up.

Randle has already flashed improvement in the preseason, playing easily his best game of the exhibition slate on Wednesday. He shot 7-of-10 from the floor, good for 17 points with eight rebounds in just 24 minutes. For the preseason as a whole, Randle has averaged 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in 19.7 minutes.

Stats aside, head coach Byron Scott is still trying to hammer home the basics of becoming a professional basketball player and trying to catch Randle up to the speed of the NBA game.

“Besides the fact that we get on him every single day about little things?” Scott said. “I don’t think the kid has ever had to play hard. He never had to work as hard as he had to this year.”

To his credit, Randle is embracing the extra attention from Scott and Bryant. There may be nobody that works harder than Bryant, and if Randle is going to learn anything during their two years (and potentially more) together, it's probably how to handle himself when the cameras are off.

And maybe Bryant's fadeaway.

“I don’t know,” Randle said of stealing the move. “I guess. You’ll see.”

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