Julius Randle ends the disastrous loss for the Knicks in the most petty way possible

On By Littum

Julius Randle certainly came across as a player to be scorned.

The star forward strutted off the court without acknowledging his former Knicks teammates after they destroyed his Timberwolves, 133-107, Thursday night in Minneapolis.

Randle claimed beforehand that he was treating it like it was just “another game,” and his performance certainly felt ordinary after a fiery start.

Julius Randle and the Timberwolves fell to the Knicks on December 19, 2024. Getty Images

Randle had 15 points in the first quarter — including screaming on the Knicks bench after hitting a 3 — as Minnesota took a 33-32 lead before the Knicks dominated the rest of the night.

Randle scored nine points the rest of the game and finished with a negative-13 plus/minus after the Knicks put defensive stalwart OG Anunoby on him.

A particular highlight of him not pushing back on defense after missing a 3-pointer and leading to an easy Mikal Bridges layup also made the rounds on social media.

Donte DiVincenzo, the other key player in the trade that brought Karl-Anthony Towns to New York, hugged his former teammates afterward.

Randle did not speak to reporters after the game to explain his lackluster performance or his disinterest in reuniting with Knicks players.

Anthony Edwards explained a lot, though, as the 14-12 Timberwolves look like a shell of the team that made an impressive run to the Western Conference Finals last season.

Karl-Anthony Towns and Julius were part of the massive Knicks-TIMberwolves offseason trade. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

The massive offseason trade with the Knicks has apparently taken them further from taking the next step.

“We don’t have s–t on offense. We don’t have any identity,” Edwards told reporters. “We know I’m going to take a lot of shots, we know Ju (Randle) is going to take a lot of shots, and that’s all we know. We don’t really know anything else. It’s not on the coaches at all. It’s on us. We play out there.”

Randle spent five seasons in New York and was at the center of the team’s resurgence from perennial laughingstock to legitimate contender.

Julius Randle did not acknowledge his former Knicks teammates after the game. NBAE via Getty Images

However, he suffered an ankle injury during the Knicks’ 2023 playoff run and missed the entire 2024 postseason with a dislocated shoulder.

In those two years, Jalen Brunson became the face of the team, and several of his former Villanova friends joined him on the Knicks roster.