Julius: ‘Mamba Mentality’ helped lead me to Knicks

Knicks All-Star Julius Randle says his former teammate, the late Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant, and the Mamba Mentality, influenced his decision to come to New York.

In a guest appearance on Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart’s Roommates Podcast, Randle said exposure to Bryant’s unwavering resolve fueled his decision to take on the challenge at Madison Square Garden, leading a Knicks team perpetually among the worst in the league.

“For me, it was like, I had just been around a dude who would take on any challenge,” Randle told his teammates on an episode of their podcast. “It didn’t matter what it was. So I kind of felt like it was like that Kobe spirit Mamba Mentality in me, like man let me take on this challenge and see what happens.”

The Knicks owned just a 133-264 record over the five-year span preceding Randle’s 2019 decision to relocate to New York as a free agent.

As of Thursday afternoon ahead of tipoff against the Denver Nuggets, the Knicks are 166-138 since signing Randle, who played his four-year rookie contract in Los Angeles.

Randle said the success he imagined before joining the Knicks in 2019 is materializing over the past two seasons in New York.

Last season, the Knicks made a second-round playoff appearance after upsetting the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, 4-1, in the first round.

This season, the Knicks are on pace to one-up themselves.

New York entered Thursday’s showdown against the reigning champs in Denver riding a four-game winning streak including three straight on the road.

Ahead of tipoff against the Nuggets, the Knicks were in sole ownership of the Eastern Conference’s No. 4 seed and were only a game-and-a-half behind the No. 3-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.

All the while, Randle has continued his ascent to stardom.

He earned a third career NBA All-Star nod as a reserve this season — all three coming in his five seasons since joining the Knicks.

And a dislocated right shoulder derailed one of the best seasons of his career.

Randle averaged 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists over the first 46 games of his season before the Jan. 27 injury.

“Why (did I come here)? Because everything that I envisioned coming to New York is happening now,” he explained on the podcast. “I wanted to really establish myself. I obviously wanted to become an AllStar, but I wanted to win here. I felt like — and this ain’t a shot at nobody — it was always New York was looked at as a place that nobody wanted to come to (because of the consistent poor record).”

Randle said Bryant’s mentality influenced the way he viewed his own career.

“Like it’s easy to play for the money and all that different type of stuff, but this (joining the Knicks) for me was all about legacy,” he explained. “And not how other people look at me, but if I’m done playing, how do I want to look back at my career? Did I challenge myself? Did I push myself?”

The Knicks’ 47-35 record last season marked the franchise’s best season since the Carmelo Anthony-led 57-win season of 2012-13.

Approaching the final 10 games of the regular season, the Knicks have a chance to one-up themselves again.

“And for me, everything that I wanted to envision happening is happening now,” Randle said on the podcast. “We still not there, but we on the way.”