Rui Hachimura Roasts Julius Randle For 'Just Standing' On Defense After Lakers Win Over Timberwolves

Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura was feeling himself a bit after helping lead his team to a 110-103 win over the new-look Minnesota Timberwolves on the opening night of the NBA season. So much so, in fact, that he elected to call out three-time All-Star Julius Randle after the game.

Hachimura, who scored 18 points for the Lakers in the win, turned heads during the game when he pulled of a monster dunk over Minnesota big man Rudy Gobert in the first half. Not only did he literally dunk on Gobert, he figuratively dunked on Randle during his post-game press conference.

"For me, I was just trying to be more aggressive," Hachimura explained. "We talked about Julius Randle, he sometimes is just standing and stuff. So we talked about, we got to kind of use that. I know I can be the screener. I can be in the corner to kind of attack the rim and stuff."

Hachimura didn't just come out and make his bold claim out of nowhere. The tape from the Lakers' win certainly backs up his claim, as Hachimura and the Lakers undoubtedly zoned in on exposing Randle on the defensive side of the floor.

Night in and night out, teams around the league come up with a gameplan that includes circling the biggest liability on defense on the opposing team. This isn't some sort of Earth-shattering discovery, but having said that, it's not often you hear a player expose that defensive liability just minutes after the game is over.

The Lakers will play visitor to Randle and the Timberwolves on December 2, and it's a safe bet that Randle has circled that game on the calendar following Hachimura's comments. 

As for the overarching headline from the Lakers' season opener, LeBron James taking the floor with his son Bronny in what was nothing but a gimmick dominated social media, but Anthony Davis putting together an impressive 36-point game shouldn't be overlooked.