‘Old-school’ Julius Randle shuns load management

BOSTON — The NBA wouldn’t have a load management issue if more stars were like “old-school” Julius Randle.

The Knicks power forward hasn’t missed a game this season, entering Sunday’s contest against the Celtics at No. 2 in the league in total minutes behind Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards.

Randle leads the NBA in combined minutes over the last three seasons, with only Brooklyn’s Mikal Bridges in sniffing distance.

“I’m from the old-school cloth, I guess,” Randle said. “To me it says something about somebody who can go out there and suit up every game and produce at a high level.”

Unlike load management defenders who cite DNPs as integral to health, Randle believes his body benefits from consistent playing.

“I put way too much into it to take games off,” Randle said. “For me personally, that’s just how I feel. I understand the science and all that different stuff behind it. But I guess I have my own science. For me, I feel better doing things. I’m active. On top of that, I just put way too much into my body, for me personally to cheat myself out of being available for my team.

“The more I stay active doing stuff, the better I feel,” Randle added. “If I feel like I’m doing a lot and I take time off, it’s like when somebody first starts working out, they start working out real hard and they’re sore, and then stop, and they work out again and they’re sore all over again. It’s better to just be consistent. That’s just my theory.”

The 28-year-old missed just 13 games in his four seasons with the Knicks. The majority were at the end of last year’s disaster when the team was out of the playoffs and Randle was in a mental rut.

After warring with the referees and fans last season, he returned with more patience and less irritation. Not coincidentally, Randle rediscovered his 3-point shot and All-Star form. He cited four important mental exercises: meditation, sleep, prayer, family time.

Sitting in street clothes isn’t one of them.

“It’s my mental before anything,” said Randle. “A lot of work goes into that every day, to make sure I’m mentally refreshed, coming in with a positive attitude and just feeling good about what’s going on.”

It’s also a team philosophy under Tom Thibodeau to eschew rest for availability. The team’s four top scorers — Randle, Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley — missed just 12 games combined before Sunday, bucking the NBA trend. Heading into the All-Star break, for instance, 14 of the league’s top-15 players in salary had sat at least 10 games apiece. Collectively they sat for over a quarter of the season.

Commissioner Adam Silver diminished the issue in a recent press conference while taking a Switzerland stance: he claimed players need to rest because science determines “what’s appropriate,” but also refused to consider cutting games out of the season because there’s “randomness” to injuries.

Meanwhile, the Knicks — the team on the longest winning streak in the NBA heading into Sunday — are consistently on the court.

“They say availability is the best dependability,” Randle said. “The team’s been able to depend on us. We get more reps in, chemistry is better, understanding how to better play with each other.”