The latest LA Lakers news reveal that rookie Julius Randle is living his childhood dream by learning personally from his idol, Kobe Bryant, whom coach Byron Scott said still has an ace up his sleeve to surprise critics.

The SilverScreenAndRoll blog dished out some LA Lakers news when it published what the seventh draft pick told reporters during the team's media day.

Reporters have asked Julius Randle how it's like playing with Kobe Bryant.

"It went from admiration to, I would say, man I could learn a lot now. What can I learn from him. How much information can I soak up from him. Hopefully the torch is passed to me. Hopefully I can fill his shoes. Hopefully I can be half as good as him," he said.

The 6-9 forward already learned the value of working hard as coach Byron Scott previously said that the rookie will have to earn his minutes from the team.

"I don't want anything given to me. Starting in the NBA, you have to earn that. You have guys who have earned that here, and that's something I'm going to have to earn," he said. "When things are given to people that's when I see things kinda collapse for a person."

Meanwhile, NBC Sports offered more LA Lakers news when it said that Kobe Bryant exceeded the expectations of coach Byron Scott when he played five-on-five at the team's practice facility in El Segundo, California.

Even after not playing for about a year, the Black Mamba still looked very healthy and sprightly even at 36 years old. This prompted the newly signed coach to assure reporters that the LA Lakers superstar guard will surprise people this season.

"He's a guy who's still going to average probably 23-24 points per game," he said. If Kobe Bryant is able to do that, he will be the only player at that age to average more than 20 points per game since Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Karl Malone did it.