Knicks' Julius Randle Finding Playoff Bliss Through Son
Though his New York Knicks have been eliminated from the NBA Playoffs, one Manhattanite remains involved in metropolitan postseason basketball.
Recovering from winter shoulder surgery that cost him a good part of his 2023-24 season, Knicks star Julius Randle is on the postseason trail with his seven-year-old son Kyden, who is currently partaking in AAU tournaments throughout the tri-state area. The Randle family's expanded hardwood affairs were documented in a profile penned by Gideon Jacobs of The New Yorker, as the three-time All-Star is taking in the next generation as the final stages of the NBA postseason rage on.
While Randle (along with his wife and Kyden's mother Kendra) has offered healthy mentorship, he praised Kyden for inspiring his own activities with the Knicks.
"I’ll find myself looking toward him during the game," Julius Randle said. "He’ll be, like, ‘Pick it up!’ He’ll coach me: ‘Dad, you have 38 points, you need to go get 40.’ I had 50-something one game, and he’s, like, ‘Dad, you have this much more to break the record.’ I was just trying to win.”
Watching his son develop into a basketball talent on and off the floor has offered basketball bliss for Randle after one of the most challenging seasons of his professional career. Randle recovered from a slow start to stand as one of the Knicks' headliners and later received his third All-Star invite. But he was unable to make the trip to Indianapolis as a shoulder injury sustained in a late January win over Miami wound up cancelling his season early.
Randle knew that things would "f***ing suck" long before the procedure, as he declared that the Knicks had a "special team." Watching Kyden, who has gone viral for his reactions to his father's performances, has put a pep back in his step as he seeks to get back in the New York groove for next season.
“His tournaments revitalize me,” Randle said. “It really just makes me happy.”
The Knicks' elimination and Julius' injury has been equally hard on Kyden, who is said to only watch the games when his father is on the floor.
“I feel sad, because I really wanted to see him play,” Kyden said after a competition in New Jersey. “I feel like if I’m playing, he should be playing.”
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI
Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks