Kobe Bryant will always be remembered as one of the greatest basketball players to step onto the court. His legacy lives on through the generation of players he inspired, with some dominating the NBA at the highest level nowadays. Bryant retired at the end of the 2015-16 season, and only four of his former teammates are still in the NBA.
The Lakers had amassed a great young core in the late 2010s as they were tanking for the final few years of Kobe’s tenure with the franchise due to Bryant’s injuries. The franchise drafted well and acquired talented young stars like D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, and more while Kobe was still on the team. Along with Larry Nance Jr., they are the only four players in the NBA who can claim they shared a locker room with Kobe for an entire season.
Even though Kobe has had some of the greatest players in NBA history as teammates, the four still playing in the NBA have had great careers of their own. Let’s take a deeper look at what they achieved alongside Kobe and what they’ve achieved since.
Larry Nance Jr.
Seasons with Kobe Bryant: 1 (2015-16)
Stats with Kobe: 5.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG 0.7 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.4 BPG
Larry Nance Jr. has had an impressive career in the NBA ever since being drafted by the Lakers with the 27th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. He was a bit-part player in Kobe’s retirement season, the only year they shared the locker room as teammates. Nance gave Kobe a reason to be upset when social media posts from a teenage Nance revealed he had made unflattering comments about Kobe’s involvement in a 2003 sexual assault case, but Bryant forgave him and let him flourish as a rookie.
Nance would stay on the Lakers after Kobe left until being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers at the 2018 Trade Deadline to help LeBron James win a championship that season. Nance would stick around after James’ left for the Lakers, before being tarded to the Portland Trail Blazers and then the New Orleans Pelicans, where he’s a rotational player now. He’s on the fringes in the NBA, but his versatility as a big man will continue opening opportunities for him around the NBA, but not on the $10+ million he’s making right now.
Jordan Clarkson
Seasons with Kobe Bryant: 2 (2014-2016)
Stats with Kobe: 13.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG
Jordan Clarkson came into the NBA as the 46th overall pick drafted by the Washington Wizards but was traded to the Lakers on draft night. He took a while to break into the roster, but eventually started outperforming other guards on the team to be the point guard next to Kobe. Many elements of his game look borrowed from Kobe to this day, as the 2021 Sixth Man of the Year has far exceeded the expectations from a second-round pick coming into the NBA.
Clarkson would get a big contract from the Lakers the summer Kobe retired, looking like an integral part of the team’s future. But he was also traded to the Cavaliers alongside Larry Nance Jr. at the 2018 trade deadline. He would soon find his way to the Utah Jazz, where he’s been playing since 2019 and has stayed on the roster even after they began their rebuild. He can still contribute at a high level as a bench spark plug, provided he finds his way to a contending situation sometime soon.
Julius Randle
Seasons with Kobe Bryant: 2 (2014-2016)
Stats with Kobe: 11.2 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 1.8 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.4 BPG
Julius Randle only got to play one season on the court alongside Kobe due to one of the most unfortunate injuries in NBA history. Randle was drafted by the Lakers with the 7th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, but he ended up breaking his leg 14 minutes into his NBA debut. He wouldn’t play again that season but managed to impress in his sophomore season, which was also Kobe’s retirement season. Randle developed a reputation as a player with a very high motor and aggression on the court, traits that Kobe himself exemplified. Randle was one of the players Kobe targeted his iconic ‘soft as charmin’ rant to.
Randle remained on the Lakers till 2018, falling behind Larry Nance Jr. in the team’s depth chart towards the end of his final season before Nance was ultimately moved. The Lakers would let Randle walk as a free agent, as he joined the New Orleans Pelicans on a steal contract. He would play All-Star caliber basketball in New Orleans and get a big contract from the New York Knicks, where he’s made All-Star and All-NBA appearances, solidifying himself as the possibly the best Kobe teammate still in the NBA.
D’Angelo Russell
Seasons with Kobe Bryant: 1 (2015-16)
Stats with Kobe: 13.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.2 BPG
D’Angelo Russell came into Kobe’s retirement season as the player many expected the torch would be handed to. He was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft and was expected to be one of the next great point guards in the NBA. He put up decent numbers for a rookie guard next to Kobe in his first season and was named to an All-Rookie Second Team. Along with Clarkson, Russell was also expected to lead the Lakers into a new era.
Unfortunately, the Lakers would end up cutting D’Lo’s time on the franchise short due to locker room issues. He would be moved to the Brooklyn Nets in 2017 for Brook Lopez and the draft rights to Kyle Kuzma. Russell would become an All-Star in Brooklyn before meandering to teams like the Warriors and Timberwolves before finding himself back on the Lakers.
Most of the players on this list were ultimately moved because the Lakers were trying to keep cap space open to sign LeBron James in 2018, with LeBron’s Cavaliers facilitating the next chapter of two of the four players on here. But only Russell has found himself back on the franchise in the LeBron era.
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