In the fourth quarter of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ loss to the Toronto Raptors on Thursday, Wolves center Rudy Gobert was in ideal scoring position down in the paint. He had his defender pinned under the basket.
But instead of dishing the ball down low to Gobert for what could have been an easy two points, Wolves power forward Julius Randle failed to get it to him. He then tried to drive to the hoop, but before he could even get within striking distance of the rim, Gobert was called for an offensive three-second violation as he slowly made his way out of the paint.
Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Ron Harper took to X and seemed to express that Randle didn’t make the right decision during the sequence.
Pass the damn ball!!!!! I use to tell Shaq to do this all the time…..
— Ron Harper (@HARPER04_5) November 22, 2024
Rudy Gobert was upset Julius Randle didn't give him the ball and got a lazy 3 seconds call and Ant is pissed pic.twitter.com/21nlIAjEmx
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) November 22, 2024
Harper spent the last two seasons of his NBA career playing alongside legendary big man Shaquille O’Neal on the Lakers. Los Angeles won NBA titles in both of those campaigns, as it defeated the Indiana Pacers in the 2000 NBA Finals and Philadelphia 76ers in the 2001 championship series.
Harper, a five-time NBA champion, was fortunate enough to be teammates with O’Neal when the big man was at the height of his powers. O’Neal won the MVP award in the 1999-00 season after he led the entire NBA in points per game and field-goal percentage. He then finished third in voting for the award in the following campaign.
Interestingly, Randle formerly played for the Lakers before he staked his claim as an NBA star. Los Angeles drafted him with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft out of the University of Kentucky.
While the play in question doesn’t present Randle’s passing chops in a positive light, he’s actually quite the talented playmaker, especially at the power forward position. He’s dishing out 4.3 assists per contest so far in his maiden season in Minnesota, and he’s averaged as many as 6.0 dimes per game (in a single season) during his time in the pros.
Randle was dealt from the New York Knicks to the Timberwolves shortly before the start of the 2024-25 season, and he’s looking to make his mark with his new team.
