A non-clinical examination of Julius Randle and his 2021-22 Knicks campaign

Julius Randle’s odd and infuriating moments

This list is by far the most frustrating thing we witnessed from Randle this season. There are so many examples beyond the box score of how Randle failed to impress with his actions.

If you’re a visual person or just want to relive the misery, here is a thread where I compiled as many of Randle’s antics from this season that I could recall.

Whether he was feeling the pressure to live up to 2020-21, or he was nervous following the playoff disappointment (or something else entirely), Randle allowed his poor play to effect his poise and hustle.

It was a miracle when he displayed any sort of attempt to play defense. And it wasn’t just on that side of the ball, Randle was often slow and just flat out lazy in transition and in any situation involving him picking up his feet.

He was never held accountable by Tom Thibodeau or anyone else. He somehow was then surprised when fans retaliated during games. Eventually, the booing was too much for Randle, which led to the “thumbs down/shut the f- up” incident.

This was the final straw for many fans who felt Randle was being, to put it mildly, disrespectful. Randle was clearly out of line for this and apologized, but it might have been too little too late.

That alone would’ve been enough to make people go sour on Randle, but there’s more. Randle not only mistreated fans, but teammates and staff too.

He slapped a laptop held by assistant coach Scott King during a timeout. He spouted angrily with Evan Fournier on national television, and pushed Fournier away during a separate incident when he was just trying to help Randle keep his cool.

It was routine for Randle to have no part of team huddles and to isolate himself at the end of the bench. And worse of all, Obi Toppin fell down on the baseline and Randle chose not to help him up.

On court tantrums include firing up Cam Johnson just before he buried the Knicks in a fourth-quarter loss, spouting with refs and Rudy Gobert despite the latter trying to be friendly, and throwing the game ball before storming off the court after the buzzer of a win against the Chicago Bulls.

That was one of the last times we saw Randle. He went into the locker room sulking after a win because he didn’t play well, a moment of pure selfishness.

This season, Randle displayed poor sportsmanship, leadership, character, and decision-making at nearly every turn. And not only did it cost the team wins and $25K, but it cost him a healthy and stable relationship with the organization and fans.