Julius Randle will miss the Lakers’ game against the HEAT to witness the birth of his first child

Players aren’t often happy to miss games, but Julius Randle’s current situation is a notable exception. Mike Bresnahan of Spectrum Sportsnet reports that Randle will miss the Los Angeles Lakers game against the Miami HEAT on Thursday night in order to be with his fiancee, Kendra, as she gives birth to their son.

“I was raised in a single-parent household and the opportunity to raise my son... and give him the love and emotional support, the guidance that I didn’t really have growing up as a kid is kind of unique for me,” Randle told Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times.

Bresnahan additionally reports that there is only a “small” chance Randle could return in time for the Lakers’ game on Friday.

Randle being out certainly doesn’t help the Lakers on the court, but some things are bigger than basketball and the birth of your first child would certainly seem to be on that list. Congratulations to Julius and his fiancee from all of us at Silver Screen and Roll on their newest addition to the Lakers family.

Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.