Julius Randle says he had a setback.
Randle, who the Knicks ruled out for the season after undergoing surgery on his dislocated right shoulder, said a full-contact on-court session five weeks ago is to blame for his shoulder not healing properly.
The three-time NBA All-Star forward could have gotten the surgery immediately after his Jan. 27 injury but decided to attempt to rehab the shoulder in an attempt to return late season for a Knicks playoff push.
“I want everyone to know that I did everything in my power to get back this season,” Randle told Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes. “That was my intention, to be playing right now. That’s why I didn’t opt for surgery when it happened. But what caused me to finally go through with getting surgery was about five weeks ago, I went through a full-contact session and re-injured my shoulder. My s–t wasn’t stable. I felt like I was in the same state when I first dislocated it, and It’s been an uphill battle ever since.”
“Choosing to get surgery was my only option at this point. It’s frustrating, but I’m at peace knowing I tried everything.”
“I didn’t want to go through ‘what if I could play.’ I wanted to know for sure if I could or not. I don’t have any regrets about going through with this process. I had to give myself a chance to get back on the court for my team. I thought I could. That contact session derailed it.”
Randle told Bleacher Report he visited a number of shoulder specialists and both had bad news.
“One said I 100% needed to get surgery. Another one said I’m at risk, but if I dislocated it again, I could damage it permanently,” he said. “I believe in this team and wanted to give it a try. It didn’t work out, unfortunately. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but [surgery] was my only option at this point. [My shoulder] wasn’t getting right.”
The Knicks said the star forward will be re-evaluated in five months.
“Just as competitors, as hoopers, you never want your season to end on an injury,” Josh Hart said ahead of tipoff against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday. “It’s tough. It’s frustrating for him. Obviously, he wasn’t able to end the year off last year fully healthy. And he was playing great, in a great rhythm. So it definitely was just unfortunate. But now for him, it’s just about hitting his rehab strong, getting better this offseason and coming back next year better than he was this year.”
Randle earned his third All-Star nod this season and averaged 24 points, nine rebounds and four assists prior to his injury.
