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In the wake of Julius Randle’s latest on-court meltdown with the Knicks, an old clip featuring his former teammates has raised some eyebrows on social media.
In a video from the March 2 episode of Theo Pinson’s “Run Your Race” podcast with Tidal Leave, the Dallas forward welcomed his teammate, Mavericks guard Reggie Bullock, on as a guest.
The pair discussed how Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau benches players who don’t play defense — with Pinson claiming Randle is the exception to the rule.
“We really cared about getting scored on — you know what I’m saying?” Bullock said.
“Or you weren’t going to play. Thibs weren’t going to play you… so you had to defend.”
Pinson, who nodded his head repeatedly, agreed.
“You had to play defense,” he said.
“… Except for Julius.”
Bullock and Pinson immediately looked at each other before they doubled over in laughter.
“We took pride in that,” Bullock added, referring to Thibodeau’s style of defense.
Pinson, Bullock, and Randle were all teammates in New York during the 2020-21 season.
Bullock and Randle both signed with the Knicks in July 2019.
The clip surfaced online as Knicks fans continue to criticize Thibodeau’s approach to disciplining his star player after multiple outbursts this season.
Randle’s latest unraveling occurred Thursday in the Knicks’ 111-106 loss to the Magic — New York’s third-straight defeat.
After the halftime buzzer, Randle was assessed a technical foul by Lee Wood for arguing with the official — which added to a string of on-court outbursts this season.
Thursday marked the third straight game in which Randle received a technical foul.
Then, as his Knicks teammates tried to pull him away from the referee, Randle got into it with Immanuel Quickley — and looked furious while chirping in his face.
Randle finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.
He did not speak to reporters after the game.
“It’s just right now our team, just we’re out of sorts. And so you have to pull together, when you go through rough times,” Thibodeau said. “You get into things together, you get out of things together.
“So it’s just we have to do it, do everything a lot better. And we have to be committed to doing it as a team.
“There’s going to be ups and downs that we have to navigate. Everyone does. And we can’t lose sight of what we’re trying to get accomplished.”
The fifth-place Knicks host the Rockets on Monday.