Julius Randle’s arrival in New York was hailed by fans around the NBA community. After emerging as a star, he helped lead the Knicks to their best season in years.
Unfortunately, Randle’s performance has been less than ideal this campaign and the Knicks have struggled to match their performance from a year ago.
And now, amid widespread criticism, Randle was forced to issue an apology to fans after letting his emotions boil over.
‘I understand that my actions also represent the league, this organization, and the city, and that I should have handled things differently. and expressed myself with more professionalism and more appropriate language in the head of the moment. My comment was an example of how sometimes you say things you regret to the people you love, even if it came from a place of passion and deep love.’
While many New Yorkers have shrugged off the whole altercation with Randle, Jeff Van Gundy wasn’t willing to let him off so easily.
Speaking on SiriusXM NBA Radio, former coach Jeff Van Gundy spoke bluntly on Julius and his performance this season.
“New York fans have been tremendous to him. They chanted MVP all season last year. I think the first step is to own up to your own shortcomings. You haven’t played well this year, not at all. And his on-court demeanor hasn’t been great at times, like the drive to win. I think he’s got to look inward first. I don’t know about you guys but I think the Instagram apologies, I just hate them. I don’t think they’re as sincere as sitting in front of the media and saying ‘I screwed up.’ I don’t think you need the whole long-winded, professionally written and edited Instagram apology.I don’t think it resonates.”
"The first step is to own up to your own shortcomings"
Jeff Van Gundy tells @TheFrankIsola and @Scalabrine why he hates Instagram apologies and breaks down Julius Randle’s season. #NewYorkForever pic.twitter.com/wZqk5kqJNv
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) January 16, 2022
This season, Julius is averaging just 19.1 points per game on 41% shooting, his lowest marks since becoming a Knick. And after seeing so much success in the 2020-21 campaign, the Knicks are now 10th in the East with a 22-21 record.
The truth is, the team is going to need more than an apology from Randle if they want to turn things around. As their leader and best player, he’s going to have to step up and play better before the Knicks can hope to compete again.
In the meantime, fans will continue to wait impatiently.
