Draymond Green is mentoring Julius Randle and says he's can be a 'special player'

Two three-game streaks were snapped in the Los Angeles Lakers' loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. The Lakers' first winning streak of the season, a three-game stretch of victories over the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and Phoenix Suns, and the triple-double streak of Warriors' power forward Draymond Green both ended on Tuesday night. Green was solid against the Lakers, scoring 9 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and dishing 5 assists, but the Warriors did not need any further production from him in a 109-88 blowout victory.

Green's impressive production in just over 27 minutes of floor time made it easy to see why before the game the Lakers' own young power forward, Julius Randle, told reporters that Green was a player he wanted to model himself after.

"Draymond is playing great," Randle said at the Lakers' Monday practice. "[Matching up against him] is a great challenge. A great guy to look at as far as what he does and how important he is to their team. A great role model for me."

That was high praise from Randle, who also mentioned that he had been talking to Green, something Green confirmed in an interview with Serena Winters of Lakers Nation:

"I talked to him (Julius Randle) about it (being an undersized power forward) last time I saw him, to just try to pick up a few things here and there that will make the game much easier for him," Green said in an interview with LakersNation.com. "There's a few things that I've learned over the course of the last couple of years that make the game a lot easier for you and once the game starts to come easier for you, everything it just starts to flow."

Green explained how he looked at being undersized as an advantage, which is something he's trying to convey to Randle, and that one of his biggest challenges will be simply finding his rhythym.

"I think once he gets in that rhythm, a real rhythm, I think he's really going to be a force to be reckoned with," Green said of Randle.

Green also told Winters that "the sky's the limit" for a "special talent" like Randle, which is surely music to Lakers fans ears after a season in which Randle has been benched and criticized by his head coach. Randle still has a long way to go, but if he continues to expand his range and improve his defense as he has been, there is hope that he can one day approximate the level of production Green is reaching right now.

Winters' whole interview with Green is worth a read, and you can do so here.

Quotes not specifically cited were obtained firsthand.