Julius Randle Responds to Knicks Not Selling His Jersey
New York Knicks star Julius Randle made some literal fashion statements on his Instagram story.
The three-time All-Star was apparently amused by the supposed lack of No. 30 merchandise at an official Knicks team store at Madison Square Garden: in a since-deleted post from Knicks fan X account "Big Knicks Energy," jerseys bearing the surnames of OG Anunoby, Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart, and even newcomer Mikal Bridges were readily available, but Randle's was seemingly nowhere to be found.
"Worddddd this y'all feel?" Randle said, including a pair of laughing emojis. In a follow-up post, Randle had more text, this one imposed over a black light and declaring "The truth shall come to light," complete with a smiling emoji adorned in sunglasses. Randle's wife Kendra was equally amused on X, posting a series of laughing emojis to an NBA news harvesting account that picked up on her husband's Instagram activity.
For what it's worth, fans were quick to fill Big Knick Energy's mentions with more recent offerings at the MSG store, where Randle threads were readily available for purchase. The account has since released an apology.
The entire situation could well be Randle having a laugh over a deceptive posting, unintentional as it may have been: the latter message from the power forward could be a deep-cut reference to the metropolitan exit of his predecessor Kristaps Porzingis, who made a similar Instagram declaration that "the truth will come out" after he was sent to the Dallas Mavericks in a January 2019 trade (h/t Kris Pursiainen).
Even if he's having some fun in a silly situation, the idea of trading Randle will likely only continue to gain steam the longer he goes without a long-term contract extension from the Knicks. Set to return from a shoulder injury that ended his season in January, Randle became eligible for such a deal in August, but no apparent progress has been made despite his role in the Knicks' push forward in the new decade.