Tough luck Lakers lose Rookie Randle to Injury

Tuesday night marked the season-opener for the NBA as a handful of teams took the floor for the first time with one of the match-ups being the visiting Houston Rockets taking on the Los Angeles Lakers. And though the Rockets would spoil the Lakers' home-opener and the return of Kobe Bryant by handing L.A. a 108-90 loss which tied for the worst loss in a season-opener since the team moved to L.A. in 1960, it was who they lost that would be of the most concern. Before the career of the Lakers' promising young star Julius Randle could even begin, the 19-year old rookie had to be carted off the court in the fourth quarter of L.A.'s season-opener at Staples Center. Randle, the seventh overall pick out of Kentucky in June's NBA Draft, suffered a broken leg while driving to the basket and buckling at the feet on an awkward shot attempt.

Randle was rushed to a nearby hospital and underwent surgery the following day to repair a fractured tibia which will most likely cost him the rest of his rookie season. Already expected to be in rebuilding mode and predicted by very few to have a shot at making the Playoffs this season, the Lakers' road just got that much harder. After an injury plagued 2013-14 season just a year ago which caused the Lakers to witness their players combine to miss a league-high 319 games, the start to this season has not been a kind one either. Nick Young who re-signed with the Lakers during the off-season, suffered a torn ligament in his thumb during training camp and is expected to be out for at least the first 4 weeks of the season. Meanwhile, the 40-year old Steve Nash has also been ruled out for the entire 2014-15 season with reoccurring back problems which will most likely end the career of the 2-time league MVP who has been a shadow of his former self since signing with the Lakers in 2012. 

For the newly hired Byron Scott who took over the head coaching reigns in late July, the transition for him will be a difficult one now that one of his standout players that the team has such high hopes for in developing will have to watch from the sidelines. Randle's teammates rallied beside him while he waited to have an air cast put on his leg and helped lift him onto the stretcher, a scene no player or fan wants to see, much less in their first career game. Randle finished the game with 2-points (1-for-3 field goals) and was the Lakers' first 1st round pick in seven years and the earliest pick since the team drafted Hall of Famer James Worthy first overall in 1982. Coincidentally, his rookie season woul also be cut short due to a broken leg.


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