LOOK: Knicks Star Kicks Off NYCFC Soccer Game

New York Knicks All-Star Julius Randle engaged in a different brand of roundball over the weekend.

The power forward and his family were the latest to gain the honor of setting off New York City Football Club’s smoke stacks at Yankee Stadium. With help from his wife Kendra and his sons Kyden and Jayce, Randle unofficially kicked off NYCFC’s highly-anticipated matchup against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.

With the Randles and several members of the NFL’s New York Jets in attendance, NYCFC played Inter Miami to a 1-1 tie. An announced attendance of 44,738 took in the match in The Bronx, many there to see the lauded Messi, who is working through his second season on the United States’ Major League Soccer circuit.

The smokestacks, meant to be a tribute of the city’s use of steam energy, are routinely set off at the start of each game and after every NYCFC home goal. For the former instance, the stacks are fired by a local celebrity.

It’s safe to say that Randle has long attained that status as one of the most prominent faces of Knicks basketball in the new decade. He has established himself as a genuine NBA star, getting three All-Star Game and two All-NBA team invites since arriving in Manhattan in 2019.

Hopefully, Randle enjoyed some of his final semblances of free time before a potentially fateful season tips off: set to be working without a long-term contract, Randle is due to make his return to the hardwood after missing the last three-plus months of the season with a shoulder injury. He had overcome a slow start to post some of his usual averages at 24 points and 9.2 rebounds, which were enough to get another All-Star invite despite his ailment.

NYCFC (11-11-8) is currently working through the final stages of the MLS season. It’s set to appear in a metropolitan soccer civil war on Saturday when it crosss the Hudson to take on the New York Red Bulls.

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