Julius Randle recalls the wildest thing he experienced while working out with Kobe Bryant: 'There would be days where we wouldn't dribble a basketball'

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle was lucky enough to play with the late Kobe Bryant, even though Bryant was at the tail end of his NBA career when they teamed up.

Randle was the Lakers' 7th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, and he was able to catch Bryant in his final two NBA seasons. Although Kobe was troubled by injuries during that period, the lefty forward said the five-time NBA champion still set the tone during team practices.

During his recent appearance on the "Pardon My Take" podcast, the three-time NBA All-Star member talked about his wildest experience working out with the "Black Mamba."

"I've never been to a workout where I go, first off at 6:00, 5:00 in the morning, and we do defense for two hours," narrated Randle. "We would have days where we would not dribble a basketball. And he was so technical like 'You can't slide that way,' 'You can't move your feet.'"

Nobody worked out quite like Kobe

Tales of "Vino's" work ethic are folklore in the NBA. Because he was not blessed with the same athletic gifts as Michael Jordan or LeBron James, Bryant spent countless hours in the gym to put himself on par with the game's greats.

However, Kobe wasn't just a hard worker; his methods were unique and, many times, extreme. From wee hours workouts to marathon shooting drills, no one worked out like Bean did. This is why rookie Julius was left in awe of his legendary teammate.

"I'm just like, this dude's insane," added Randle. "And it was just his mentality. It was just different. That was the end of his career. I could imagine like what he was like at 20, 25."

Bryant also had the "blackout workout"

While Randle experienced Kobe's "No-dribbling workout," another former Kobe teammate, forward Caron Butler, was part of another radical Bryant workout - the blackout workout. Butler talked about what that was during his appearance on The Long Shot podcast with Miami Heat player Duncan Robinson.

"It was like you're getting your reps in, you're getting your 50 shots from each spot, 100 makes off the move, you're getting all this sh*t," Caron said. "Then you get so tired, you see spots; you're blacking out. That was a blackout."

"The Black Mamba" was one of the greatest players to ever play basketball. Many say he belongs in the GOAT discussion, although that is a topic for another discussion. What is undeniable, though, is that Kobe used extreme methods to achieve greatness. Stories of the "no-dribble" and "blackout" workouts are proof of that.