Julius Randle’s teammates blocked him from the microphone set up in Madison Square Garden to offer an opening statement on his behalf. Randle had just dropped 44 points on the Atlanta Hawks to carry his New York Knicks to their third straight victory, and his support cast had a message they wanted to share with the world before he began his post-game interview In his seventh NBA season, Randle has blossomed into the leader of an alarmingly competent Knicks team during head coach Tom Thibodeau’s first season in charge. Randle is putting up career-best numbers in scoring (23.1 points per game), assists, and rebounding, where’s he’s top-10 in the league. He’s also second in the NBA in minutes per game.