All the focus heading into the 2014-15 NBA season for the Los Angeles Lakers was the development of Julius Randle. The Kentucky product was considered one of the most talented players in the 2014 NBA Draft and the Lakers were lucky enough to have him fall to them with the seventh overall pick.

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Along with landing a potential franchise player in Randle, the Lakers acquired someone that is quite fond of current face of the storied franchise. Randle recently spoke with Mike Trudell of Lakers.com about being a fan of Kobe Bryant while he was growing up.

Randle was also asked if he had any other favorite players in the league while growing up and responded with the following, via Lakers Twitter:

Who were Julius Randle’s favorite players growing up? “Kobe, that’s it.” #SuitingUpTogether — Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 2, 2015

Randle also was asked why Kobe was his favorite player and the Lakers rookie went on to praise his teammate for his play on both ends of the floor, via Lakers:

Randle on why Kobe was his favorite player: “He had no weakness on the offensive end, and on the defensive end he’s an assassin, too.” — Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 2, 2015

During Kobe’s prime years in the league, it would be safe to say Randle’s assessment is spot on. Bryant was near unstoppable offensively while also being arguably one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA.

As a result of Bryant’s dominance on both ends of the floor during his career, the superstar has five championship rings and a seemingly endless list of individual accolades.

With Randle clearly a fan of Bryant and his approach to the game, it’ll be interesting to see how he continues to develop with Kobe as his mentor moving forward. Randle will have at least one more season playing alongside Bryant and is expected to workout with the perennial All-Star this summer.

The extra time with Bryant should help the 20-year-old take the next step forward while living up to expectations of being the player Kobe could hand the torch to in the near future.

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