Don’t panic, Knicks fans: Julius Randle will be rocking his usual braids in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Forward Theo Pinson, confirmed the hairstyle news in a video taken in the Knicks locker room that shows Randle without his signature braids.
“Knicks fans, don’t worry,” Pinson said on Friday, as a smiling Randle stood near his locker. “He is getting his hair braided [on Saturday]. I will make sure of it. I don’t give a damn if I gotta do it.”
Randle will revert back to braids one day before the Knicks take on the Hawks in the first round of the 2021 NBA playoffs on Sunday. New York occupies the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, meaning it’ll have home-court advantage in the series.
On Thursday, the Knicks announced they officially sold out tickets for Games 1 and 2 of the opening round. They’ll accommodate 15,000 fans at Madison Square Garden, the most of any playoff team.
Julius Randle with his braids in a game against the Pacers. Getty ImagesThe team stated that both games will mark the largest indoor gathering in New York since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. It’s expected that nearly 90 percent of ticket holders for both games will be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The crowd will be much smaller when the Knicks travel to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4. The Hawks will take on a reduced fan capacity of 7,600.
Randle, when the reduced capacity was still at 13,000 fans, said he’s “excited” to have more fans in-person during the Playoffs.
Pinson, meanwhile, kept that same energy on Twitter, writing, “They let us have 15,000 fan in the Garden it’s about to be wild! I’m hype!!! WE HERE!!!”
Game 1 of the Knicks-Hawks first-round NBA playoff series tips off at The Garden on Sunday at 7 PM ET on TNT.
