The story of the Los Angeles Lakers season-opener against the Houston Rockets was bound to be centered around the elbow and trash-talking scuffle between Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard that warranted a personal foul on Bryant, a Flagrant-1 foul on Howard and double technicals.
That was, until No. 7 draft pick Julius Randle suffered what team doctors have diagnosed as a fractured tibia in his right leg during the fourth quarter of his rookie debut when driving to the basket.
Kobe Bryant rushed over to the devastated rookie as he held on to his leg, writhing in pain. Randle made his way on to the stretcher with help from Lakers athletic trainer Gary Vitti and Bryant told him to keep his spirits up.
Julius is not going to have a choice. We’re not going to let him get down about this,” Bryant told the media after the game.
What else did Bryant have to say about the injury and the next steps for Randle? It’s all in our post-game video above.
[divide]Kobe Bryant Reacts To Elbow/Trash Talking Scuffle With Dwight Howard