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Julius Randle suffered a broken leg during the Los Angeles Lakers season opener against the Houston Rockets, Rachel Nichols reported during the TNT broadcast. Randle suffered the injury during the fourth quarter and was put into an air cast, then carried into a stretcher by his teammates.
The Lakers have since confirmed the injury, announcing he suffered a fractured right tibia. He is currently en route to a hospital to undergo further examination, and possibly surgery.
This will likely end Randle's season before it really began. He played a total of 13 minutes and scored two points before everything was put on hold. If there's a "silver lining" to this, it's that it's hopefully a clean break and doesn't involve any torn ligaments.
His teammates were clearly stunned as the Lakers' training staff surrounded him and he was tended to, including Kobe Bryant. If you want a heartbreaking picture of the two, here it is:
Kobe head on the head of Julius Randle who broke his right tibia pic.twitter.com/ozc0Z00ik0
— Beto Duran (@DuranSports) October 29, 2014
The Lakers will surely continue updating Randle's status once more becomes clear. For now, all you can do is hope for a successful recovery, and that the 19-year-old Randle is able to fight through the circumstances he's under.