Julius Randle made a loud statement with no words during the New York Knicks' epic 25-point comeback over the Boston Celtics on Thursday night.
After scoring a tough bucket in the paint, the Julius Randle gave a visible thumbs down to the Knicks fans in attendance. His frustrations boiled over after those same fans had been booing the team when they were down big against the Celtics.
— Philip (@PhilipDamiano) January 7, 2022
After the game, the Knicks star later explained the meaning of his thumbs down gesture with four simple words.
“Shut the f— up,” said Randle on what his thumbs down to Knicks fans meant.
The message Randle sent caught the attention of the talking heads over at Inside the NBA, who were less than pleased with his reaction to the boo birds. Charles Barkley was vocal on how the boos are part of the deal when one becomes an NBA player.
“I never understand why players think you are supposed to be cheered when you're playing bad,” said Barkley on Randle's anger towards Knicks fans. “No, you're gonna get booed when you're playing bad and you're gonna get cheered when you win. … Are they supposed to cheer when you're playing bad? As a player, this is the way this thing works. We ain't doctors. We ain't lawyers. If you play good, people cheer you. If you play bad, people boo you. That's the deal you make with fans.”
Kenny Smith also chimed in, claiming that Julius Randle is too good of an NBA player to be engaging with fans, especially ones already known to be as hostile as the ones in New York.
“They're there to cheer and to boo,” said Smith. “There's only two things you can do as a fan, cheer or boo. He shouldn't engage in the fans. He's too good a player. He's an NBA All-Star. He doesn't have to engage with 19,000 people that really want to cheer him. But when they're not cheering, and the Knicks are losing, everyone knows that is a city that's going to boo their team.”
Kenny Smith's response to Julius Randle saying his 'thumbs down' gesture to the MSG crowd meant "shut the f**k up."
pic.twitter.com/06RaeWmbqs— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 7, 2022
Julius Randle and the New York Knicks are as mediocre as a middling team can get this season. If they can put together more spirited performances like the one they had on Thursday, the boos are guaranteed to be few and far between.
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