Knicks power forward Julius Randle didn’t hit a triple-double, but he took the triple crown on All-Star Sunday.
He competed in the Skills Competition, was used as a prop in the Slam Dunk Contest and played 13 minutes in his first All-Star Game.
In limited action in the main draw, Randle scored two early buckets – one on a riding powerhouse dunk – for four points and threw an alley-oop pass to Donovan Mitchell for a dunk.
“It’s been a long day,” Randle said. “I’m not going to lie.”
After playing in all 38 of the Knicks’ games and leading the NBA for a total of minutes, he took a fine backseat as his Team Durant suffered a 170-150 loss to Team LeBron.
“That’s great,” Randle said of his limited minutes. ‘I’ll be running the competition in minutes. It is awesome. Believe me, I’m fine.
“It was amazing. Absolutely everything I imagined to be a part of it. I had a ton of fun, [was] agitated. It’s something I want to be a part of a lot more. It was a great experience, the conversations. It’s an experience I will never forget – the first. ”
At halftime, Knicks rookie Obi Toppin called Randle to stand next to his dad so he could jump over them.
“I was confident,” said Randle. “He did it ten times [Saturday] [Saturday], I was concerned. Today he did it so often that I didn’t have to worry about anything. ”
On March 11, Randle was at a rock bottom when he realized his first season as Knick had ended due to the pandemic, preventing him from turning around his disappointing season.
A year later, Randle and his family are flashing in Atlanta this weekend. His wife Kendra, whom he met in Kentucky, and son Kyden, now 4 years old, sat at the State Farm Arena Sunday night.
Life like Knick can change that quickly.
“He’s enjoying it,” Randle said of his son. “He absolutely knows it’s something that’s out of the ordinary and cool. He absolutely loves that. He loves to walk around and say he’s an all-star kid. He enjoys it. ”
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said entering the All-Star hiatus is playing Randle as an “All-NBA player.” Three All-NBA teams will be announced after the season, and Randle’s numbers – if they keep up – could easily get him there if the Knicks make it to the playoffs.
Randle, 26, admitted on a recent podcast that he cried when learning coaches voted him an All-Star reserve for the Eastern Conference.
“It was more, so much as called All-Star, it was more of the trip,” Randle said on Sunday. “Appreciate the seven years so far in the competition, the journey and the process, year after year and the grind, hard work, sacrifice, dedication in the process. It made me reflect and appreciate that process more than anything. ”
The Knicks are fifth in the East thanks to Randle’s Ironman will.
He didn’t miss a game. He has averaged 23.2 points, 11.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists. He has spent the past two weeks thinking deeply about how he was so disappointed that he himself failed as a leader in his first season during last season’s Knicks mess.
Now you can call the Knicks leader, Captain Randle, although Thibodeau doesn’t believe in awarding titles.
“It means a lot – it’s a responsibility that I really enjoy,” said Randle. “A lot of things about my leadership style are being vocal, but I try to lead by example – how I approach work and study the game. “Do things the right way. It’s a big responsibility that I like to have. Hopefully I’ll keep doing that in the second half and be the best leader I can. Hopefully it translates to victories.”