Lakers Rookie Julius Randle Breaks Leg In First NBA Game

In a 90-108 loss to the Houston Rockets in their season opener, the Los Angeles Lakers looked about as underwhelming and stagnant as everyone feared they would be. What's already shaping up to be a rough season in L.A. got even worse when rookie forward Julius Randle, the seventh overall pick in this year's draft, broke his leg in the fourth quarter of last night's game.

Randle broke his right tibia on a standard and low-impact drive to the basket. He seemed to plant his right foot cleanly while attempting to launch toward the basket, but then everything went to shit. His leg buckled slightly, and Randle heard an audible pop before falling to the floor.

This is just one of those freak injuries that become all the more frustrating when they happen to a young player early in the season. It was hard not to have bad flashbacks to Greg Oden while watching Randle sit under the basket, unable to get up.

The good news is that Randle should be able to return at some point this season, and the Lakers are going to desperately miss the youth and quickness he figured to bring to the front court. The bad news is that Randle will likely be returning to a very, very bad basketball team, but only if Kobe Bryant hasn't already killed them all of his teammates by then.