Julius Randle was selected to participate in the NBA All-Star Game once before, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused the league to hold its midseason showcase event on one day in 2021 in Atlanta.
With no fans in attendance, the 3-Point Contest and the Skills Competition were held before the game, with the Slam Dunk Contest staged at halftime.
Randle believes his current trip to Salt Lake City was more of what he always envisioned. That is especially true because the Knicks’ power forward got to share the experience with his family, including his two sons — 6-year-old Kyden and 1-year-old Jayce.
“Yeah, 1,000 percent. This is way better,” Randle said before netting 11 points in 20 minutes Sunday night for LeBron James’ team. “I guess this is a true experience, and I’m having fun with it. My family, my son, Ky, he is here. He is having a blast. Jayce, my other kid, is having a blast. That’s really what it’s all about for me.
“It’s the best part for me. There’s a lot going on this weekend. Obviously, it’s a celebration for the season that everybody has had up to this point. For me it’s about spending the time with my boys, them getting this experience with my wife and my family.”
Game MVP Jayson Tatum of the Celtics poured in an All-Star Game record 55 points, including 10 3-ponters, and former Utah star Donovan Mitchell — now with the Cavaliers — scored 40 to lead the squad captained by Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo to a 184-175 win over Team LeBron.
Tatum’s Boston teammate Jaylen Brown had 35 points while former Net Kyrie Irving and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid netted 32 points apiece for James’ team.
James notably departed the game at halftime with a hand injury, and Antetokounmpo, who had been nursing a wrist issue that kept him out of Saturday’s skills competition, played only the first 20 seconds of the first quarter.
Antetokounmpo will be traveling to New York on Monday to undergo further testing on his right wrist, according to an ESPN report.
His spot could have gone to Jalen Brunson, but the Knicks’ point guard didn’t join Randle — who was eliminated in the first round of Saturday’s 3-Point Contest — as an All-Star selection despite several injury replacements being named by the league.
The Knicks still were well-represented this weekend, with Jericho Sims participating in the Slam Dunk Contest, which was won by G-League guard Mac McClung. Randle also was at Vivint Arena the previous night to watch Knicks teammate Quentin Grimes score 27 points in the Jordan Rising Stars tournament.
“He was great. … I know he would have won the MVP if their team would have won, but he was great,” Randle said of Grimes. “For him to come out and put a performance on like that in that type of setting was amazing.”
Randle had said last week that he was hoping to be selected by James in Sunday’s night’s schoolyard-style draft, joking, “It’ll be fun to [play with him] before he gets his old ass out of here.
“It’s fun. Fans are what make the game. All-Star weekend is obviously amazing, so it’s gonna be a fun time,” added Randle, who was the 10th overall pick by the Lakers star. “Seems like it’ll be cool not knowing who you’re playing for until before the game. … But you can’t really go wrong with either team.”
Fresh off breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career scoring record on Feb. 8, the 38-year-old James said before Sunday’s game — tying Kareem’s record of 19 All-Star selections — that he was “not going to go too crazy” with his playing time.
LeBron also called the Lakers’ final push for a playoff spot after last year’s absence “23 of the most important games of my career for the regular season.” But he didn’t play in the second half after appearing to bang his hand against the rim while attempting to block a shot in the second quarter.