Knicks’ Randle on getting booed, fined: ‘I’ve already addressed that’
NEW YORK — In his first public comments since getting fined by the NBA and booed off the court by Knicks fans, Julius Randle wasn’t interested in opening up on the subject or extending an olive branch beyond his Instagram statement.
To three separate questions after Tuesday’s practice, Randle responded quickly, “I’ve already addressed that.”
Asked also about his reaction to getting fined $25,000 by the NBA for ‘egregious profanity,’ Randle answered, “Nothing.”
Asked what prompted him to release a statement of regret — which was pushed by his agency and the Knicks — for telling fans to STFU, Randle answered, “Just felt like I needed to address certain stuff that was said, whatever it was.” Fair enough.
The logical desire from both sides — the fans and Randle — is to move on from this lingering animosity, which is easier if the Knicks win and Randle returns to form. During Monday’s victory over the Spurs, the crowd exploded with joy when Randle buried his opening shot just seconds after tipoff.
But that soon devolved into boos and chants of “Randle sucks” as he went scoreless for the remainder of the contest. Randle beelined for the bench before being officially subbed out for the final time with four minutes left, sitting down before his replacement could check in.
All season, like Monday night, the fans chanted for Randle’s backup, Obi Toppin. It’s worth noting the Madison Square Garden crowd has seemed to skew younger since doors reopened last season, changing, at least anecdotally, from a corporate/tourist environment to more of a college game vibe.
“(Julius) is a professional, and just looking forward to moving on from it,” Taj Gibson said. “He’s a great kid, does everything he needs to do. Everybody just gets a little annoyed sometimes.”
Annoyance is understandable for a player who has been targeted online by fans all season and was fined by the NBA for cursing during a press conference, which is commonplace among other players (including Kevin Durant on Monday). Annoyance can even be productive if channeled correctly.
But this kind of circumstance can also be confidence-killing and destructive to basketball. Dennis Smith Jr. was a lower level of player, but he never seemed to recover mentally from getting booed by Knicks fans in 2019.
Randle, who was unpopular among fans during his first season with the Knicks in 2019-20, became the hero last season when the arena was mostly empty due to the pandemic.
“I think on a normal day it would affect anybody,” Gibson said Tuesday. “Going to a popular stadium, Madison Square Garden, one of the best places to play, one of the number one fan bases in the world, you’re gonna have pressure. That’s why he chose to come here when a lot of people didn’t really want to take it. But he’s here and it comes with the game. You can ask Patrick Ewing. A lot of guys dealt with it. It’s part of New York. You play good, they’re gonna love you. You play bad, you’re gonna hear about it. But it’s just a chip on your shoulder, and you just gotta move on. Not many people can play here. You just gotta be tough about it.”
Among the differences for Randle from last season, beyond his level of play, is the absence of two of his closest personal teammates, Reggie Bullock and Elfrid Payton, who both signed elsewhere in free agency. Coincidentally, Bullock returned to MSG for the first time Wednesday as a member of the Mavericks.
“Just with the relationship that we had here, obviously he was great for us, he’s a great teammate and I’m happy to see that he’s playing well over there,” Randle said. “Anytime I see my old teammates it’s always love, especially with him being a guy on our team last year. We’re all texting now. I think we’ll be tied in together forever. It’ll be love to see him for sure.”
Coach Tom Thibodeau said he wants Randle to get lost in the work and not dwell on the reactions, whether good or bad.
“We’re a team. We all talk to each other. So that’s important. But the most important things are the actions,” Thibodeau said. “You can say all the right things and do none of them. So the important thing is putting the work in, getting ready to play. Sacrifice your play for the team. Put the team first. We know we have a very passionate fan base.”