Julius Randle tells us how Knicks fans are the best in the NBA

Knicks’ Julius Randle: “I’m damn proud to be a Knick.”

Randle discussed how excited was when he first signed with the Knicks. He knew the front office had faith in him, and he wanted so badly to be the guy that could change the course of the franchise.

Of course, Randle joined the team in an offseason where many had their photoshopped images of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Zion Williamson in Knicks jerseys before the summer even started, only to come out without any of them. The 2019-20 Knicks seemed like a letdown before the season even started.

Still, Randle wanted so badly to live up to the big contract he was awarded. He felt like the front office believed in him to carry the team and that’s what he needed to do every night. The pressure to score, the roster around him, and the coaching didn’t mesh into a natural winning culture. He was fighting an uphill battle all season. Randle explained the mentality he had last season:

"“They’re expecting you to get your 25-to-30 tonight. That’s your JOB. So go and do your job. Stuff like that. I’m not a selfish player — never been a selfish player in my life. Always been about the team. But I had it in my head that for this team, in this situation, they were paying me a lot of money because they wanted me to get a lot of shots up.”"

Clearly, Randle was out of his comfort zone. Everyone on the team seemed to be out of their comfort zone. It was chaos.

There were many questions about what Randle’s future with the team might look like, and through it all, he put his head down and continued to work on his craft. Now, with an incredible support system around him, Randle has taken on the challenge of New York and become the city’s fearless leader.