Immanuel Quickley didn’t have much interest in getting into what happened on the court with Julius Randle after the halftime buzzer in Orlando on Thursday night.
Randle was issued his third technical foul in as many games, and got into the face of an official to voice his displeasure, an all-too familiar sight for the Knicks. Quickley, along with Josh Hart and Quentin Grimes, tried to guide Randle into the locker room and away from any further discipline, and Randle responded by getting right in Quickley’s face in a moment that quickly made its rounds across social media.
But when asked about the incident, Quickley wouldn’t budge or paint his teammate in any kind of negative light.
“Everybody’s trying to win,” Quickley said. “That’s basically all that it is.”
Asked again about it, Quickley declined to address Randle at all, keeping the focus on the team’s desire to win, an impressive display of leadership by the 23-year-old.
“Honestly, it’s everybody trying to win, that's all I can really say,” Quickley said. “Sometimes it happens. It's part of sports. It's part of what it takes to be a professional athlete. It's not just basketball, it's other things with that.”
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