Julius Randle reveals how he wanted ‘ugliest shoe ever’ instead of Jordans because of idol Kobe Bryant

Julius Randle has dramatically improved his game over the years. The 26-year-old forward made his NBA debut at the age of 19 for the Los Angeles Lakers. He is currently plying his trade with the New York Knicks. Julius is a huge Kobe Bryant fan, and he’s been blunt about it. Julius even had the opportunity to play alongside Kobe Bryant for two seasons.

The 2020-21 NBA season has been Julius Randle’s best season so far. He averages 24.1 PPG, 6 APG, 10.2 RPG AND 37.6 MPG and earned his first All-Star and All-NBA team selection. In addition, he won the Most Improved Player reward in 2021.

Julius Randle preferred Kobe Bryant sneakers to Jordans

In a recent promotional video for Kicks and Mobil 1, Julius Randle showed off and talked about his extensive sneaker collection. He revealed that he loved Kobe’s sneakers and preferred them over the Jordans.

“If it’s basketball, it’s Kobes. It is nothing else. It’s all I wear. He was my idol growing up and everything ”, said Jules.

“When Kobe was with Adidas, he had those moon shoes, or whatever, the money. And I wanted them so badly. It was Christmas, and my mom, she got me the Jordans that came out when he came out. was with the Wizards. And it was the suede and there was the blue stripe at the bottom. I was upset that she bought me the new Jordans because I wanted Kobes so badly. It was the ugliest shoe. of all time, so I think that’s really what started my love for sneakers.

Michael Jordan is someone who defined the game of basketball as well as the game of sneakers. Since 1985, Jordan sneakers have been released every year. Today, the Jordan brand is a multi-billion dollar company. However, despite Jordan being one of the best sneaker brands, Julius Randle preferred Kobe’s sneakers to them. Kobe’s iconic shoes have come with two brands during his career.

Adidas had an agreement with him until 2002, and KB8 was Kobe’s first true signature shoe. Kobe signed with Nike after that and released the Nike Zoom Kobe series.