Julius Randle breaks right leg
— -- LOS ANGELES -- Lakers rookie forward Julius Randle, the team's top draft choice in June, broke his right leg midway through the fourth quarter of Tuesday night's 108-90 loss to the Houston Rockets.
The Lakers said Randle suffered a broken tibia and was being taken to a hospital for evaluation for possible surgery.
"It is heartbreaking, because I saw him all summer," coach Byron Scott said. "I saw the work that he was putting in. I saw the progression that he was making, the steps that he was taking to get better. And his first game, he goes down. I don't think anybody in that locker room is happy about the way we played, but we're even more saddened about the fact that we lost one of our young guys."
Randle, the 19-year-old former Kentucky standout selected seventh overall in June, was driving to the basket when his right foot buckled and he collapsed on the court, holding his leg for several minutes while medical officials tended to him.
Scott said he was told that players on the court heard a "pop" when Randle went down.
The Staples Center crowd fell quiet as a stretcher was brought out and Randle's teammates huddled around him beneath the basket. Lakers star Kobe Bryant shook his head in disbelief. Randle's right leg was immobilized, and he was taken off the court.
Scott said he spoke with Randle after the game.
"I just told him to stay strong," Scott said. "Adversity tests the true character of a man. This is some adversity that we're facing with a young guy being out, and obviously, it's something that he's facing. I feel for him. I feel extremely bad for him. He was kind of crying, and I just told him to stay strong and that it's going to make him a better basketball player."
Randle was the SEC's freshman of the year while helping the Wildcats to the NCAA championship game last season.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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