Julius Randle says he wanted to be a Laker for life and that his dream was never possible because of LeBron James.
“I was really starting to blossom into like a consistent player,” Randle said on Roommates Show with Jalen Brunson & Josh Hart. “… I remember during that year, I was on bit of a run… All right man, I just played my ass off… I’m definitely getting paid. I obviously wanted to be with the Lakers.
“But it was like, it really didn’t matter. Obviously, Bron was coming and stuff, so like it was like get your ass out of here. It was also tricky, I was a restricted free agent, when you are under those guidelines, it’s a wait-and-see game… The money basically dried up. I was kind of like in limbo.”
Randle is overlooking some of the glaring flaws in his game that also limited his earning power at the time, but he’s right about James’ arrival completely shaking up the Lakers’ young roster at the time.
After leaving LA in the summer of 2018, Randle signed a two-year, $18 million contract with the New Orleans Pelicans. But he says his goal was always to follow in Kobe Bryant’s footsteps and spend his entire career in purple and gold.
“I only wanted to play for the Lakers when I got there,” he said. “I was like – I wanted that Kobe, 20 years, play for one organization type thing.
“And I remember my agent lookin’ at me. He was like – I was young and naive – and he lookin’ at me, he like, ‘Bro, I want that for you too, but that s— really just don’t happen much.’ “And I’m like, ‘Man, you don’t know me. I’m doin’ it.’”
Things worked out reasonably well for Randle in the end. After declining his second-year player option with the Pelicans in 2019, he signed a three-year, $63 million contract with the New York Knicks.
He’s currently in the second year of a new, four-year $117 million deal with New York, who are currently well positioned in the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Randle may not have got his career-long Laker fairytale, but things turned out just fine.
READ MORE: How Playing With LeBron James Comes With Major Pitfalls For Anthony Davis
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