The New York Knicks have been red-hot recently, as they've won eight straight games and forced their way into fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Much of the praise can be given to power forward Julius Randle. He's been on a tear this season and is having a breakout year, currently averaging 23.9 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 6.1 assists, all of which are career highs. Randle began his career with the Los Angeles Lakers and was the teammate of NBA legend Kobe Bryant.

The two generated a bond during Randle's first portion of his career, in which Randle would routinely communicate with Bryant for advice before his tragic death.

During an interview, Julius Randle provided a heartbreaking admission after being asked about his production this season, per Adrian Wojnarowski.

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Kobe Bryant is considered as one of the best players in history after dominating throughout his career. The Lakers legend was frequently offering advice to the young players and even acted as a mentor for the WNBA's superstar Sabrina Ionescu.

It seems Bryant was a mentor for Randle throughout most of his young career, even after being traded away from the Lakers. NBC Sports provided a snippet of Randle's comments.

“Honestly, I think about him every day. And it's crazy that you mention that because I was talking to one of my teammates yesterday and he was like ‘bro, Kobe probably would've come to the game here,' and I'm like ‘yea he probably would've.'And I was talking to my wife yesterday about it, and I was like, ‘man, this is kind of surreal,' because just the journey throughout my career and how everything's going right now, for me, I know, just the relationship I had with him, he would be proud.”

Bryant has mentored many young Lakers players over the years and Julius Randle is no exception. The Black Mamba certainly would be proud of the player he's turned into.