Late in the third quarter against the Suns Friday night, Knicks’ Julius Randle was ejected for a needless shove of Cameron Johnson after the two battled for rebound position on a play. Without Randle, who had already scored 25 in the game, the Knicks lost in dramatic fashion on a Johnson 3-pointer.
That ejection highlights a growing concern among the Knicks front office about Randle’s state of mind this season, reports Marc Berman at the New York Post.
The source said Randle didn’t come into training camp in the same type of sensational shape as he did last season, before Thibodeau’s first year guiding the Knicks. Perhaps that prevented him from being the type of two-way player — giving energy on both sides of the ball — that he was during his second team All-NBA season.
Randle has seemed angry all year, battling with fans through his “thumbs-down’’ gesture, battling with referees, battling with assistant coaches, battling with Johnson when the Knicks had all the…