Playing in the All-Star Game was the latest sign of a much happier season for Knicks forward Julius Randle. Randle, who was selected as an Eastern Conference reserve pick, is in the midst of a strong rebounding campaign, averaging 24.8 points and 10.8 rebounds in 60 games. He adapted to a ball-sharing role in New York’s offense that came with the offseason addition of Jalen Brunson.
Randle was also selected for the game in 2021, but had a rough year between his two All-Star appearances. He battled with the fans and the media for much of last season and often appeared angry when the Knicks failed to make the playoffs. He attributes this year’s turnaround to a visit over the summer from associate head coach Johnnie Bryant.
“One of the big things was that he was, you know, only talking about the year before,” Randle said. “And he said something like, if you were your teammate and I saw you acting like you did sometimes, body language, showing frustration, whatever it was, would you want to be your teammate? And I was like, no. I had to look in the mirror and take responsibility and improve and learn from it”.