New York Knicks forward Julius Randle had the utmost privilege of playing alongside the late, great Kobe Bryant during the former's first two seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. Recently, Randle relived Kobe's epic final game in 2016, during which a 21-year-old Randle made the mistake of asking Bryant if he could get a shot up as the Black Mamba was on his way to a momentous 60-point effort.
In a recent appearance on J.J. Redick's The Old Man & The Three podcast, Randle shared how he told Bryant that he wanted in on the action during the game — as well as Kobe's hilarious reaction:
“He took the ball out,” Randle narrated. “He inbounded to me and I was like, ‘Yo I'm shooting this time.' And he was like, ‘You want everybody in this arena to boo you? Go ahead. You better throw me the damn ball.'”
As Randle recalled, Kobe was in full Black Mamba mode for the Lakers at that point in the game — with the mean mug and all that. For some reason, Randle thought it was a good idea to try and get a piece of the action. Needless to say, Bryant was having none of it.
Kobe ended up with 60 points in his swansong, but he did so on 50 shots. It was exactly what one would have expected from the one and only Kobe Bryant in the final game of his career for the Lakers.
Randle knew that, too, and he was even a first-hand witness to the same. So I guess he knew deep down that there was no way the Lakers legend was going to give in to his request. We can't blame Randle for trying, though.
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