Despite New York’s 3-1 lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers after the Knicks’ Game 4 victory on Sunday, struggling player Julius Randle was not in a celebratory mood.
Charles Barkley criticizes Julius Randle for not participating in postgame media after the Knicks’ Game 4 victory against the Cavaliers
Charles Barkley, a TNT analyst and Hall of Fame basketball player, expressed his displeasure with the fact that Randle did not participate in the network’s postgame media availability.
‘I like Julius Randle, he’s a very good player and a nice kid,’ Barkley began before adding: ‘I hate players who only speak to the media when things are going good… It doesn’t work like that.’
‘And what disappoints me the most, his team actually won,’ Barkley continued. ‘First of all, he wasn’t playing well, but you don’t get talk to the press just when things are going good. But also, if your team won the game, you’re supposed to be happy y’all won the game. That’s very disappointing from a hell of a player who’s a good dude.’
Randle shot 3 of 10 from the field for 7 points and 2 rebounds in Sunday’s win. In 2022-23, he averaged 25.1 points and 10 rebounds per game for the Knicks.
Randle’s performance may have been hampered by a mounting list of ailments, including a hard foul by Cavs’ Jarrett Allen in Game 2.
‘It doesn’t even matter at this point,’ Randle told reporters Thursday.
”My a** hurts, my elbow hurts, but I gotta get ready to play for tomorrow,’ Randle said last week ahead of Game 3. ‘So it don’t matter at this point, I’m ready to go.’
Randle scored 11 points in the Game 3 victory in Manhattan on Friday night. Fortunately for NY, Randle wasn’t really needed for Game 4.
In Game 4, another star is Jalen Brunson scored 29 points, RJ Barrett had 26, and the New York Knicks won 102-93 on Sunday to take a 3-1 lead over the Cavaliers in their first-round series.
With a win in Cleveland on Wednesday, the Knicks may advance to the second round for the first time since 2013.
If required, Game 6 would be held in New York on Friday at what has been a deafening Madison Square Garden in the last two games.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said: ‘There’s nothing like a big game at the Garden,’
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