Los Angeles Lakers Suffer Big Blow, Loses Top Rookie Julius Randle To Injury In First Game Of NBA Season

The Los Angeles Lakers lost big to the visiting Houston Rockets on NBA Opening Night and worse, they also lost their top big prospect in rookie Julius Randle, who injured his right lower leg and taken off the floor in a stretcher in the fourth quarter of the game at the Staples Center on Tuesday night.

The official diagnosis is a fractured tibia, according to multiple reports, and the Lakers team doctors said they will further evaluate Randle on Wednesday when they will try to give update on the status of the rookie.

"The last three or four minutes, obviously we weren't thinking a whole lot about basketball," Lakers head coach Byron Scott said after the game via ESPN.COM. "We were just thinking about Julius, and hoping he's OK."

Randle was picked as the seventh overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft coming out of the University of Kentucky. The 19-year-old is considered one of the best big men to come out in this rookie batch.

Randle saw limited time in his pro debut playing 14 minutes and producing just 2 points a turnover. He missed two of three shots from the field two of two attempts from the free throw line. Kobe Bryant top-scored for L.A. with 19 points but missed 11 of 17 field goal attempts.

The Lakers are coming off their worst season in the franchise while based in Los Angeles. They went 27-55 last season owing mainly to multiple injuries including to Kobe Bryant, who only played in six of 82 games. Steve Nash has also been pegged as out for the 2014-2015 NBA season because of a recurring back injury.

Aside from the injury to Nash, the injury bug has also bitten the Lakers franchise very early with Nick Young, Xavier Henry, Ryan Kelly and Wayne Ellington all missing Los Angeles’ season opener.

Players from around the league showed their support for the rookie via social media Twitter after the incident happened.

Damn I didn't wanna see the young boy go down like that! Prayers up @j30_randle! Trust the process God got you!

— Paul George (@Yg_Trece) October 29, 2014

Prayers up for Julius Randle.. — Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) October 29, 2014

Praying for the best and a speedy recovery for Julius Randle! Never want to see that happen to anybody….

— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) October 29, 2014

Watch the play where Randle injured his right leg:

(YouTube/NBAHighlightsHD9)

The Randle-less Lakers face the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday and appears headed to a 0-2 hole to start the 2014-2015 NBA Season.