NBA All-Star selection would be 'amazing' for the Knicks' Julius Randle

With the NBA finalizing plans to hold an All-Star Game on March 7 in Atlanta, the reality has come for Julius Randle. While others can decide if he is worthy of a spot, the Knicks forward is unwavering in his plea that he would love to be there.

Randle has been enjoying his best season, averaging career highs in scoring (22.6 points per game), rebounds (10.9) and assists (6.0). He has led the Knicks’ turnaround from struggling near the bottom of the standings to, well, mediocrity, which is a major step for the long-stumbling franchise.

While some players have questioned the idea of staging this game in the midst of a pandemic, Randle is all-in.

"It’ll be amazing," he said about the opportunity to play in an All-Star Game. "From everything I’ve known about it, it’s to bring a lot of help to a lot of people out there who need it and to the HBCUs, from what I heard. So it will be great to be a part of and hopefully raise a lot of money and awareness and bring a lot of attention to people who are in need in our country, so it would be amazing to be a part of for sure."

While Randle has put up impressive numbers before, he has never made an All-Star team and is no lock this season despite being the most important part of the Knicks’ advances.

The competition for spots in the frontcourt is fierce with Kevin Durant, who ranks second in the NBA in scoring, and Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid the most likely starters. Add in Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo and Domantas Sabonis, and Randle is battling the likes of Gordon Hayward, Khris Middleton and Nik Vucevic for a spot.

And even with the improvements, the Knicks are just 10-13 and sitting in ninth place in the Eastern Conference.

Voting for the All-Star Game ends Feb. 16, with fans, players and media all having a percentage of the vote. The first fan returns released on Thursday showed Randle at No. 8 in the frontcourt with 175,325 votes. Sabonis was seventh with 186,275.

"Honestly, it’s not even a question," said Knicks guard Elfrid Payton, who played with Randle in New Orleans before reuniting in New York. "I don’t even know what we’re talking about. He’s definitely been playing at an All-Star level. We’ve been winning. I don’t think it’s really a debate. I think it would mean a lot to him. He puts in a lot of work, a lot of things that people don’t see. We all work here, but he puts in a lot of work. He deserves it."

The work for Randle really began in the offseason when, with the Knicks left out of the bubble restart to the 2020 season, he remade his body, dropping weight and arriving in Tom Thibodeau’s training camp in December in the best shape of his career.

But he also changed the way he plays. With the Knicks lacking the shooting threats to spread the floor, he has managed to avoid the mounting turnovers he had last season as he desperately worked his way through double- and triple-teaming defenses.

Randle put the traits on display Wednesday in leading the Knicks to a 107-103 win in Chicago. He led the team with 27 points but also came up with the biggest assist of the night, drawing the defense and finding Reggie Bullock for a critical three-pointer as a 19-point lead was disappearing.

"That’s what we expect from him," Thibodeau said. "A veteran leader, plays strong on both sides of the ball, share the ball, make the right plays, set an example for everyone as to how you’re going to work and give the team the belief that we can win. And you get that by making hustle plays. I think the more hustle plays you make, the more that unites the team and inspires the team. So that’s what we expect from him."

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.