'Why Not?': Knicks All-Star Julius Randle Addresses Dismal 3-Point Contest Showing
Julius Randle's three-point shooting proved most foul, at least in the court of NBA public opinion.
Even though the New York Knicks All-Star didn't finish last among the eight shooters in the annual 3-Point Contest at the annual showcase (beating out Sacramento's Kevin Huerter), his metropolitan connections ... and a reaction from his humorously embarrassed son Kyden ... exacerbated the situation. Randle nonetheless remained in good spirits among his fellow triple threats, keeping a smile on his face throughout the competition eventually won by Damian Lillard of Portland.
Randle addressed his struggles from deep in an interview with Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports, detailing the speedy process when he was called upon to serve as a medical replacement for Lillard's teammate Anfernee Simmons. Though Randle was a fair choice, having sunk a career-best 161 triples so far this season, he had only 48 hours to prepare for the speedy affair, affording him only one practice session in Salt Lake City before last weekend's All-Star festivities in Vivint Arena.
“I found out Thursday night, I think? I was just winging it, honestly," Randle said. "(I) just practiced once on Friday and I was like, ‘All right, I’ll just give it a go.’ Why not? I was here.”
Randle had little time to strategize for the contest, mainly centering on the placement of his "moneyballs," branded orbs worth extra points. Game planning wasn't exactly at the forefront of his mind, as Randle's late entry allowed him to take a relatively fun-first approach.
"I was in the gym the day before and did something at that time that felt the most comfortable," he said. "I was just like, ‘I’m going to roll with that and see what happens.’”
While Randle's second All-Star appearance failed to produce a victory (his team led by LeBron James fell to one repped by Giannis Antetokounmpo), it was more of an open, celebratory affair than his first visit in 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic put a bit of a restriction on socializing and guests. Both Kyden and Randle's other son Jayce were able to join him in Utah and watch their father mingle with the NBA's finest. The elder Randle shot 5-of-10 from the field en route to 11 points in the main event on Sunday night.
Randle now returns to a Knicks team looking to close in on one of the Eastern Conference's six automatic playoff spots. A streak of five wins over their final six pre-All-Star break games allowed them to move into the last of those seeds and the quest resumes on Friday night in Washington (7 p.m. ET, MSG).
Asked about the Knicks' relative stability while the Brooklyn Nets purge their roster across town, Randle sounded hopeful for not only the Knicks' immediate future but the years down the road as well.
"Everybody (has) done what’s best for them," Randle said. "Luckily, up until this point, my career, what’s been best for me and R.J. (Barrett) has been to be with the Knicks. So hopefully we can just keep building on all that.”
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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