Julius Randle has captured the love of New York with one of the most drastic one-year turnarounds the NBA has ever seen. Now an All-Star and an All-NBA candidate, Randle has the Knicks preparing for a critical road trip that will determine whether his surging group can complete the unthinkable and secure home court advantage for a playoff series.
For the Knicks, who many assumed would be mired in another losing season, having the payoffs in sight should be viewed as a massive victory. But their crosstown rivals have championship-or-bust aspirations, and Randle knows the rivalry with the Nets is even more meaningful with both teams being competitive.
Still, Randle doesn't feel the battle for the city has changed. In fact, he doesn't believe there's much of a battle at all when it comes to which franchise owns New York.
"We know it's a rivalry," Randle said while talking with Fat Joe on the rapper's Instagram show. "At the end of the day, as a Knicks player, as a Knicks fan, when I signed here, I knew the city was ours regardless. That's really how I feel. But I think we're definitely fighting for the pride for sure."
The Nets certainly have the edge in who holds the better team, with Brooklyn atop the Eastern Conference thanks to its trio of superstars, and the Nets have taken all three games against the Knicks so far this season. But each game was decided by seven points or less, and it's not hard for Randle to see that the rivalry is heightened this season with the Knicks surging towards a playoff berth.
For Randle, the rivalry was still a heated one even last year, when the Knicks were going nowhere. But even then, he could tell during his first year in New York that the Knicks were still the city's team, regardless of wins and losses.
"I definitely feel that energy," Randle said. "I'll say this: I knew it was a rivalry. But the first time we played them, last year was my first year in New York.
So my first time, I didn't understand the energy until we played at Barclays [Center]. And it was like a Knick game."
Randle's assessment seemed to match the scene at the Barclays Center last month, when the Nets downed the Knicks after a last-second shot attempt by Randle was eventually ruled an up-and-down thanks to a clutch defensive play by Kyrie Irving. After the game, James Harden talked about how prevalent the Knicks fans were in Brooklyn, and after the game, fake "Brooooklyn" chants were pumped into the arena.
That's the kind of scene Randle remembered in his first taste of the Knicks/Nets rivalry, with Spike Lee even making a road appearance to give Randle a taste of what it was like to play in New York.
"I'm telling you, Spike Lee first row, he's courtside," Randle said. "Coach draws a play, and this is how crazy the energy is. Coach draws a play, and I look to my left and Spike is in the huddle. Spike is in the huddle! He knows what we're running. I'm like 'Yo, this is crazy.' I'm like, 'I'm in New York.'"
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