Julius Randle’s cryptic posts teasing imperfect Knicks relationship?

As with all social media posts, it could be nothing… or it could be something

Over the last year, the New York basketball team has taken on the “Nova Knicks” moniker thanks to its not-so-secretive plan to pair as many former Villanova players together as humanly possible.

While the strategy has led to great results, some have wondered if it has created even the slightest divide within the locker room. This worry, more often than not, centers around Julius Randle.

This isn’t to suggest that any of the Villanova players purposefully exclude Randle or that Randle isolates himself. However, it’s natural to believe that Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, and Mikal Bridges have a closer relationship given their past. And it couldn’t have always been easy for Randle.

Brunson has blossomed into an MVP-caliber player, ranking among the top 15 or 10 players in the league these days. In the process, he’s turned himself into the captain of the team and one of the faces of the entire city along with Yankees‘ Aaron Judge, who is having a historic season himself.

But Randle, in his own right, is an incredibly accomplished All-Star and All-NBA forward who came to New York first. The Dallas-native may have a polarizing relationship with the fans and his playoff performances still leave a lot to be desired. And while it can be hard to forget sometimes, it was Randle, not Brunson, who led the Knicks to their first playoff appearance in eight years. It was Randle, not Brunson, who started the rebuild project that has resulted in the team we have now.

So far, to the appreciation of many of the fans, the former Kentucky Wildcat has taken Brunson’s ascension into stardom and captaincy very gracefully. Every opportunity he’s gotten to speak highly of Brunson, he’s done so.

Yet last night, fans with the aforementioned worry surrounding the three-way relationship between the former Villanova players, the Knicks, and Randle, got a bit of a scare.

As shown in the post above, a Knicks page on X posted about how no Randle jerseys were being sold at Madison Square Garden just a few weeks before the start of the season.

Randle took to Instagram to reply “Worddddd this how y’all feel? @nyknicks,” then followed it up with a cryptic message with an all-black backdrop.

“The truth shall come to light,” Randle wrote.

It took no time for the original poster and post to be exposed, as it was cleared up that Randle jerseys were, in fact, being sold at the Garden. And Randle may have ended up not harboring any negative emotions.

Nonetheless and all things considered, it did shed some light on how the All-NBA big man may feel deep down.

Randle, who has been brought up in numerous trade rumors over the last year, has stayed committed and loyal to the team. But it’s important to note that the Knicks and Randle, who became eligible to sign a contract extension on August 3, seem to have made little to no movement on that front.

With both sides potentially not seeing eye-to-eye and the trade rumors swirling, there’s a chance that last night’s social media posts could mean more than we initially thought.

What do you guys think? Are small tears starting to form in the delicate, yet crucial relationship between the Knicks and Randle, or is he just having fun and keeping people entertained before training camp starts?