The NBA announced that Julius Randle will replace the injured Anfernee Simons in the 3pt contest during All-Star Weekend in Utah. After realizing it wasn't a prank, I began to wonder ... why in the world did they choose Randle??? Over the last two years, Randle has been shooting in the low 30s percentage-wise from 3. Everyone else in the group is shooting closer to 40% from 3. So why Randle? Did the NBA not want to pay to fly Isaiah Joe to Utah? Do they know it's a potential Twitter moment? I don't know. I don't understand the NBA's thinking here, but what I do know is that Randle didn't accept the invitation to lose.
Welcome back to Far-Fetched Friday, where we give you a bold prediction that we believe will come to fruition. This Friday, we look at All-Star weekend.
Randle has always been a funky player to watch. He constantly looks exhausted while playing. Every bucket seems like a grind. It looks like he learned how to shoot from watching machines on a construction site. After games, Randle leaves the arena wearing a hard hat. Once he makes it home, he passes out for 12 hours. We are going to see this man shoot 100 threes this weekend, and you know what? I'm actually rooting for him.
Julius Randle with the most “I have to paint the garage after this” 40-pt games in NBA history
— jason concepcion (@netw3rk) April 22, 2021
Everyone else in this competition is a pretty boy, except for Kevin Huerter. He's sexier than a muh'. Julius Randle is a 90s player with range on his jump-shot. That's what the old heads want, right? Bring the blue-collar back into the NBA and have it beat the prep-kid who has had shooting coaches since the 12 years old. I'm here for it. Throw the percentages out, it's about who wants it more.
Julius Randle has the most to win and least to lose in this competition. He's playing with house money. He's not viewed as a 3pt shooter, so if he loses, no one thinks differently of him, but if he wins tho? He's taking that trophy straight to Thibbedu's office. Starting this year, Randle has taken on mediation as a pregame ritual. In Utah, before he begins the competition, Randle is going to close his eyes and imagine the closeouts he's going to garner after winning this. The threat of his shooting will open up pump-fake-jab-spin-bump-step-back-jimmy. This is the same guy who thought he was dueling with Kevin Durant mid-game.
"Right back at you"
— NBA (@NBA) November 10, 2022
Julius Randle and KD trade buckets and more during this mic'd up. pic.twitter.com/LkalVlcVfl
He has the confidence, but what he needs is validation, and he knows he can get that in Utah. Knowing that, I think Randle is going to win the competition.
It is time to throw away the American inferiority complex with its place in the sport, where many blindly claim that technique should come above all in choosing and developing the best prospects and that the U.S. is not an international power because it cares too much about athleticism.
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