Kobe Bryant spent 20 seasons in the NBA and in that time, he got to play alongside a whole lot of players on the Los Angeles Lakers. Now in 2024, only four of them are still playing in the league: Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell, and Larry Nance Jr.
Clarkson, who currently plays for the Utah Jazz, played 78 games with Bryant over two seasons, the most among these four. In those games, he averaged 13.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.
The Lakers had acquired Clarkson through a draft day trade with the Washington Wizards, who had selected him with the 46th pick in 2014. He developed into a key role player for LA as the years went by and the franchise rewarded him with a four-year, $50 million deal in 2016, right after Bryant’s retirement.
Clarkson wouldn’t be a Laker for the length of that deal, though, as he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018. While he never really came close to being a star in the league, Clarkson did win SMOY in 2021 and has had a very respectable career.
Next, we get to Randle, who has become a star in the league. Like Clarkson, he too was a teammate of Bryant’s for two seasons and played 66 games with him. Randle averaged 11.2 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in those outings.
The Lakers had drafted Randle with the 7th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft but his career, unfortunately, got off to a very rough start. In his first-ever game, he broke his right tibia and missed the rest of his rookie season, which meant he didn’t get to play more alongside Bryant.
While Randle impressed during his time with the Lakers, the team wasn’t interested in committing long-term to him. It led to him heading to the New Orleans Pelicans in free agency in 2018, but he only spent one season with the franchise.
Randle joined the New York Knicks in 2019 and with them, became the star that the Lakers expected him to be. The 29-year-old is now a three-time All-Star and he also won MIP in 2021.
As for D’Angelo Russell, he too played 66 games with Kobe after the Lakers drafted him with the second pick of the 2015 NBA Draft. He averaged 13.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game when playing alongside the great man.
Russell was expected to be the next franchise player for the Lakers but didn’t quite live up to those expectations. Add in that infamous incident with Nick Young and the team decided to cut ties with him in 2017 by trading him to the Brooklyn Nets.
Russell became an All-Star in 2019 with the Nets but hasn’t managed to hit those heights since. He returned to the Lakers in 2023 in a trade but now looks to be on his way out once again.
Lastly, we get to Nance, who played the fewest games with Bryant among these four, 47. He averaged 5.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in them.
Nance was the 27th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft and it took him a little bit of time to find his footing in the NBA. The Lakers sent him to the Cavaliers with Clarkson in 2018 and he now plays for the New Orleans Pelicans, as a very able backup big man.
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