\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n
On A cold Saturday in Tarrytown, Julius Randle kept the freeze going between him, Knicks fans and media.<\/p>\n
The Knicks were staging media availability for the first time since Thursday\u2019s New Orleans debacle, and the scribes requested Randle following practice.<\/p>\n
Randle hasn\u2019t spoken to the press since after practice on Jan. 11, when the forward grouchily and repeatedly refused to go beyond an Instagram statement that served as an apology for a thumbs-down \u201cSTFU\u2019\u2019 gesture toward Knicks fans. The Instagram post may or may not have been written by Randle.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, the Knicks trotted out their new spokesman, RJ Barrett, who is garnering good will for facing the music after every tough loss. Then, out came the recently acquired Cam Reddish, Barrett\u2019s former Duke teammate, who is set to make his Knicks debut Sunday in a Garden matinee against the Clippers.<\/p>\n
There was no sign of Randle, who has disappeared on and off the court in a stunning fall from grace.<\/p>\n
The Knicks took the hit for Randle, absorbing the NBA\u2019s $25,000 fine for Randle not talking with the media after Thursday\u2019s blowout loss.<\/p>\n
The Knicks encouraged the press to write that the club did not make Randle available. That seems farfetched, because Randle\u2019s media boycott has been going on too long for anyone to believe that.<\/p>\nJulius Randle<\/figcaption>N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThat was an accumulation fine because Randle had blown off the media after eight of the past nine games. The immaturity started Jan. 4 \u2014 when the Knicks beat the Pacers.<\/p>\n
The silence hasn\u2019t gotten Randle out of his funk. This behavior likely confirms he won\u2019t be named again to the All-Star Game.<\/p>\n
Reserves \u2014 based on the coaches\u2019 vote \u2014 will be announced Feb. 3. Randle hasn\u2019t been in the top 10 among Eastern Conference forwards in All-Star fan voting, which ends this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/aside>\nThere are a ton of hypotheses regarding Randle\u2019s regression, including the empty-gym thesis, but one NBA personnel man blames it on signing a $117 million contract extension.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you sign that type of contract, there comes a sense of entitlement, feeling now I\u2019m the guy,\u2019\u2019 the personnel man said. \u201cHe believes he has to do more and has to be more selfish. He got some success and now he feels a bigger responsibility.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
To keep up the company line, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau played into the supposition the Knicks prevented Randle from talking after a four-point, minus-26 disaster against the Pelicans on Thursday in which he got booed all night.<\/p>\n
If Randle really had agreed to speak, the only conspiracy theory is Knicks management was worried he would go off the rails or he has requested a trade and they didn\u2019t want it out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big thing is just be focused on the next game and winning,\u2019\u2019 Thibodeau said. \u201cSo, we felt the best thing for the team was to do that. So that\u2019s what we\u2019re gonna do.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
More likely, the Knicks didn\u2019t want Randle fined again as he tries to dig himself out of this hole. In the past nine games since he stopped coming to press conferences, Randle is averaging 16.8 points and shooting 38.9 percent \u2014 including 22.9 percent from 3-point land.<\/p>\nJulius Randle argues with an official during the Knicks\u2019 loss to the Pelicans as RJ Barrett looks on.<\/figcaption>N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAgainst New Orleans, Randle couldn\u2019t get to the basket and became too tentative.<\/p>\n
The Pelicans used smaller wings and laid off Randle\u2019s suddenly wayward 3-point shot. The 2020-21 Second Team All-NBA selection found no angles against a scheme that perhaps the Pelicans stole from Atlanta\u2019s blueprint for the playoffs last spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re at our best when he\u2019s attacking the rim,\u2019\u2019 Thibodeau said. \u201cThe more he attacks the rim, the better it is. And it\u2019s not just his scoring, but it\u2019s the rim reads and sprays that triggers.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Except none of it is happening. It\u2019s the largest reason the Knicks (22-24) look like a lottery team. The head of the snake has been defanged.<\/p>\n
But the worst part is Randle\u2019s handling of this adversity. He\u2019s showing signs he\u2019s ill-equipped to be a superstar in the NBA\u2019s biggest media market.<\/p>\n
Randle never could have imagined this after signing that contract extension. He appears stunned that fans turned on him so quickly after an early season slump.<\/p>\n
He needs to get over it, because this is snowballing. Thibodeau sounded confident Randle will reemerge, on the court at least.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, he\u2019s been in the league a long time,\u2019\u2019 Thibodeau said. \u201cAnd so he\u2019s played at a high level. I\u2019ve seen a lot of guys go through stretches where they haven\u2019t shot well or a low-scoring game. It\u2019s knowing that you\u2019ve done it. If you haven\u2019t done it, then there\u2019s a bigger concern. He\u2019s done it at a high level. It\u2019ll bounce back around for you. He\u2019s a terrific player.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
After a nearly two-hour wait for Randle, Reddish was huddled into a private room with Rebecca Haarlow for an MSG Network exclusive, then escorted into the practice facility\u2019s interview headquarters.<\/p>\n
Maybe this was symbolism: Out with the old, in with the new.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On A cold Saturday in Tarrytown, Julius Randle kept the freeze going between him, Knicks fans and media. The Knicks were staging media availability for the first time since Thursday\u2019s New Orleans debacle, and the scribes requested Randle following practice. Randle hasn\u2019t spoken to the press since after practice on Jan. 11, when the forward<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[2288,1938,507,215,409,2289,1300],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12989"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12991,"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12989\/revisions\/12991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}