In one way, being a lottery pick in the NBA Draft takes years in the making… Years of hard work. It is a sign that an NBA team believes the player picked can help them win at the highest level. Lottery picks receive big contracts, but they also have big expectations placed on them. And, needless to say, the NBA is a new beginning.
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Being a college star matters little once you get to the league. Many All-Americans and even National Players of the Year have had little to no NBA careers to speak of. Yes, the NBA game might still be basketball, but it’s also very different than the college game.
Combine that with players learning how to navigate on their own as big money flows in, and it’s easy to see why so many don’t make it. Julius Randle, for one, has had an outstanding NBA career, and he’s still going strong as one of the most important players on the Timberwolves. But Randle’s start in the league was unceremonious to say the least.
Randle, a rookie back in 2014 with the L.A. Lakers, scored a total of two points in 14 minutes in his first season. That’s because he broke his tibia on a routine-looking drive to the basket in the fourth quarter of his first game.
Randle was on The Young Man and the Three podcast last week, and he said that looking back on it, that injury helped him find his footing in the league. “I feel like me breaking my leg was the biggest blessing ever, as crazy as that sounds,” he said.
“It’s a lot to be a 19-year-old kid in L.A., playing with Kobe [Bryant], making a lot of money now, and you’re just on your own,” he continued. “That’s a big adjustment, and it was tough. Physically, obviously, I was hurt, but mentally, I don’t know if I was really ready for that jump.”
Randle described what many dominant college athletes feel when they reach the pros: That feeling of being a big fish in a little pond that now has to swim with the sharks. It brought about a sense of impostor syndrome that he had to work his way through.
“You’re used to high school, you’re the man. You go to college, you’re the guy,” he said. “And now you go to the NBA and it’s like, ‘No, you’re not the guy.’ You’re starting from ground zero and you gotta work your way up, and mentally, that can take a toll.”
Randle’s injury basically gave him a redshirt year in the pros. He could sit back and learn without also having the pressure of performing. It allowed him to get his mental game straight. And, when he was finally ready to take the court again, he was in a better place to succeed.
Having veterans like Bryant, Carlos Boozer, and Lou Williams to show him the ropes helped Randle immensely. And he also struck up a quick friendship with Nick Young, too.
Now Randle is the vet, and he helped the Wolves survive a recent four-game absence of their star, Anthony Edwards. The team managed a 2-2 record thanks to Randle scoring over 26 points per game. Through 10 games, he’s averaging the most points and assists of his career, while simultaneously helping young Wolves like Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. get acclimated to the league.
