Julius Deion Randle (born November 29, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In his second season with the Knicks in 2020–21, he was a first-time NBA All-Star and was awarded the NBA Most Improved Player Award. In his only season of college basketball with the Kentucky Wildcats, Randle was named a third-team All-American. He was drafted by the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

in the first round of the

2014 NBA draft The 2014 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2014, at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

with the seventh overall pick. In his regular season debut, Randle broke his right leg and missed the remainder of his rookie season. After four years with the Lakers, he signed with the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

before joining the Knicks after one season.

High school career

20130403 MCDAAG Julius Randle reverse dunk (2)

Randle attended Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, Texas, where he was widely regarded as a top 5 player in the class of 2013 with Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Andrew Harrison, and Aaron Gordon. In August 2012, Randle won the Under Armour Elite 24 dunk Contest and the next day he was named one of the MVPs of the Elite 24 game, where he scored 27 points and led his team to a 164–138 victory. Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Randle was listed as the No. 1 power forward and the No. 2 player in the nation in 2013. The weekend after Thanksgiving in his senior season, Randle fractured his foot playing in a tournament and missed three months as a result. In March 2013, Randle returned for the TAPPS 5A playoffs and led his team to its third state title in four years. As a senior in 2012–13, Randle averaged 32.5 points and 22.5 rebounds per game. On March 20, 2013, Randle committed to Kentucky, choosing it over Texas, Kansas and Florida. He then joined twin brothers Andrew and Aaron Harrison, James Young, Dakari Johnson and Marcus Lee as the sixth incoming Kentucky player selected to play in the

2013 McDonald's All-American Boys Game The 2013 McDonald's All-American Boys Game is an All-star basketball game that was played on April 3, 2013 at the United Center in Chicago, home of the Chicago Bulls. It is the 36th annual McDonald's All-American Game for high school boys. The ...

, as well as the 2013 Jordan Brand Classic.

College career

On February 28, 2014, Randle was named one of the 10 semi-finalists for the Naismith College Player of the Year. He went on to help Kentucky reach the national championship game, which they lost to the University of Connecticut. He ended the 2013–14 season with 24 double-doubles, the second most double-doubles by a UK player in school history, behind Dan Issel's 25 in 1969–70, and the most double-doubles by a UK freshman (the previous record was shared by DeMarcus Cousins and

Anthony Davis Anthony Marshon Davis Jr. (born March 11, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the power forward and center positions. Davis is an eight-time NB ...

at 20). In 40 games (all starts), he averaged 15.0 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 30.8 minutes per game. On April 22, 2014, Randle declared for the NBA draft, foregoing his final three years of college eligibility.

Professional career

Los Angeles Lakers (2014–2018)

Randle was selected with the seventh overall pick in the

by the

. On October 28, 2014, after only 14 minutes of official NBA playing time, Randle broke his right tibia during the Lakers' 2014–15 season opener against the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

. He underwent successful surgery the following day to repair the fracture, and subsequently missed the rest of the season. On March 9, 2015, he was cleared to participate in full weight-bearing, non-contact basketball activities. Randle returned to action in July 2015 with the Lakers' Summer League team. Exactly a year after injuring himself in his NBA debut, Randle had 15 points and 11 rebounds as a starter in a 112–111 season-opening loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. On December 2, he recorded 15 points and a then career-high 19 rebounds in a 108–104 win over the Washington Wizards. On January 29, 2016, he scored a career-high 23 points in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. He matched that mark on March 8, recording 23 points and 11 rebounds in a 107–98 win over the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

. On March 25, he recorded his first career triple-double with 13 points, 18 rebounds and a then career-high 10 assists in a 116–105 loss to the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

. At 21 years old, he became the youngest Lakers player with a triple-double since

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...

. Six days later, he hit a game winning hook shot in the paint with 1.9 seconds left in overtime to lift the Lakers to a 102–100 win over the Miami Heat. On April 6, he set a career high with 20 rebounds in a 91–81 loss to the Clippers. He appeared in all 15 games to begin the 2016–17 season before missing three straight in late November because of a hip injury. On November 30, 2016, he had 13 points and matched a career-high with 20 rebounds in a 96–90 win over the Chicago Bulls. On March 15, 2017, he scored a career-high 32 points in a 139–100 loss to the

. Randle began 2017–18 as a reserve, while Larry Nance Jr. started at power forward. He excelled as a backup center when the team went to a

small lineup In basketball, small ball is a style of play that sacrifices height, physical strength and low post offense/defense in favor of a lineup of smaller players for speed, agility and increased scoring (often from the three-point line). It is closely t ...

, and he returned to the starting lineup on December 29, 2017. On December 31, Randle set season highs with 29 points and 15 rebounds in a 148–142 double overtime loss to the

. On March 11, 2018, he had a career-high 36 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in a 127–113 win over the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. Randle finished the season as the only Laker to appear in all 82 games. As a starter, he averaged 18.6 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists. He became a restricted free agent after the season.

New Orleans Pelicans (2018–2019)

On July 2, 2018, the Lakers renounced Randle, making him an unrestricted free agent. On July 9, Randle signed a two-year, $18 million contract with the

. In his debut for the Pelicans in their season opener on October 17, Randle had 25 points off the bench in a 131–112 win over the

. On November 19, he recorded his sixth career triple-double with 21 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in 25 minutes in a 140–126 win over the San Antonio Spurs. On December 3, he scored a career-high 37 points in a 129–126 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Two days later, he had 27 points and 18 rebounds in a 132–106 win over the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

. On February 27, 2019, he scored 35 points in a 125–119 loss to the Lakers. On March 15, he scored a career-high 45 points in a 122–110 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. He declined his second-year player option on June 16, 2019, and became a free agent.

New York Knicks (2019–present)

On July 9, 2019, Randle signed a three-year, $63 million contract with the

. On February 16, 2021, Randle scored 44 points and logged a career-high seven 3-pointers in a 123–112 win over the Atlanta Hawks. On February 23, Randle was named as a reserve for the

2021 NBA All-Star Game The 2021 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on March 7, 2021, during the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2020–21 season. It was the 70th edition of the NBA All-Star Game, and was hosted at State Farm Arena in A ...

. On April 16, Randle tied his season high 44 points, while also recording 10 rebounds and 7 assists, to lead the Knicks to a 117–109 victory over the

. After the end of the regular season, Randle was named the NBA Most Improved Player, receiving 98 of 100 first place votes. He was also named to the All-NBA Second Team as a forward. After Randle's breakthrough season, the Knicks extended his contract on August 27, 2021, with a four-year, $117 million extension. On March 22, 2022, Randle was fined $40,000 by the NBA for an incident with a game official, which occurred two days earlier during a 93–108 loss to the Utah Jazz. On April 2, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said that Randle would "likely" be out for the remainder of the season with a quad injury.

National team career

In the 2016 off-season, Randle joined the US Select Team that practiced against the United States men's national team ahead of the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 1 , , 0 , , 14.0 , , .333 , , , , .000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 81 , , 60 , , 28.2 , , .429 , , .278 , , .715 , , 10.2 , , 1.8 , , .7 , , .4 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 74 , , 73 , , 28.8 , , .488 , , .270 , , .723 , , 8.6 , , 3.6 , , .7 , , .5 , , 13.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , style="background:#cfecec;", 82* , , 49 , , 26.7 , , .558 , , .222 , , .718 , , 8.0 , , 2.6 , , .5 , , .5 , , 16.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New Orleans , 73 , , 49 , , 30.6 , , .524 , , .344 , , .731 , , 8.7 , , 3.1 , , .7 , , .6 , , 21.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, 64 , , 64 , , 32.5 , , .460 , , .277 , , .733 , , 9.7 , , 3.1 , , .8 , , .3 , , 19.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 71 , , 71 , , style="background:#cfecec;", 37.6* , , .456 , , .411 , , .811 , , 10.2 , , 6.0 , , .9 , , .3 , , 24.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 72 , , 72 , , 35.3 , , .411 , , .308 , , .756 , , 9.9 , , 5.1 , , .7 , , .5 , , 20.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 518 , , 438 , , 31.2 , , .472 , , .332 , , .743 , , 9.3 , , 3.6 , , .7 , , .5 , , 17.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 1 , , 0 , , 13.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.0 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 4.0

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 5 , , 36.0 , , .298 , , .333 , , .852 , , 11.6 , , 4.0 , , .6 , , .0 , , 18.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 5 , , 5 , , 36.0 , , .298 , , .333 , , .852 , , 11.6 , , 4.0 , , .6 , , .0 , , 18.0 , - class="sortbottom"

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;", Kentucky , 40 , , 40 , , 30.8 , , .501 , , .167 , , .706 , , 10.4 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , .8 , , 15.0

Personal life

Randle is the son of Carolyn Kyles, who played basketball at Texas. He is a devout

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. In college, he visited the team chapel before every home game. Randle is married to Kendra Shaw. In December 2016, Shaw gave birth to the couple's first child.

References

External links

Kentucky Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Randle, Julius 1994 births Living people African-American basketball players African-American Christians All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Dallas Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players McDonald's High School All-Americans New Orleans Pelicans players Power forwards (basketball) National Basketball Association All-Stars 21st-century African-American sportspeople