EL SEGUNDO – Lakers forward Julius Randle and guard D’Angelo Russell were chosen for the 2016 USA Men’s Select Team, it was announced today by USA Basketball. The Select Team, comprised of 25 players, will train July 18-21 with the 2016 USA Basketball Men’s National Team during its training camp in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Randle completed his first full NBA season in 2015-16 as one of only nine players in the NBA to average a double-double for the season (11.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game), after missing 81 games of his rookie season due to a broken leg suffered in his first game. The 21-year-old played in 81 games (60 starts) last season, registering a team-best 34 double-doubles – including one triple-double – and was one of only 11 players in the NBA with 34+ point/rebound double-doubles.
The seventh overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft ended the year ranked 6th in the NBA in total rebounds, 4th in defensive rebounding percentage (32.0%), and 10th in total rebounding percentage (19.5%). When he corralled a career-high 20 rebounds 4/30 vs. LAC, he became the youngest Laker to ever grab 20+ rebounds in a game at 21 years and 129 days old. With his first career triple-double (a career-high 10 assists with 18 rebounds and 13 points 3/25 vs. DEN), he became the second-youngest player in Lakers history to record a triple-double (Magic Johnson).
Russell, recently named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, played in 80 games (48 starts) in 2015-16, averaging 13.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.16 steals in 28.2 minutes per game. The second overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft finished the year ranked 4th among rookies in assists and steals, 5th in points and three-point field goal percentage, and was one of 10 American rookie and sophomore players selected by the league’s assistant coaches to participate in the Rising Stars Challenge at NBA All-Star 2016.
The 20-year-old became the youngest player in NBA history to make 120+ three-pointers in a single season, as well as the youngest player in NBA history (20 years and seven days old) to make eight three-pointers in a game 3/1 vs. BKN. The Louisville, KY native scored 20+ points 13 times and 30+ points twice, including a career-high 39 point performance in the March 1 contest against the Nets, the most points scored by a Lakers rookie since Elgin Baylor scored 39 on 3/11/59.
