Julius Randle criticized for leaving court before final buzzer against Warriors

Steph Curry made a pair of free throws to put the Golden State Warriors up 116-112 with 6.1 seconds remaining to ice a Warriors win over the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night at Target Center in Minneapolis. Anthony Edwards hit a 3-pointer with 1 second remaining, but the Warriors put the finishing touches on the 116-115 win an inbounds pass later.

After Edwards shot the 3 with time winding down, Julius Randle could be seen on ESPN's cameras making his way towards the locker room. A review had held up the final inbounds play, but Randle was already on his way out of the tunnel, and he's been the subject of criticism for his early exit and body language during crunch time in Wednesday's game.

Bad vibes from Julius Randle, who has been increasingly benched during clutch time in Minnesota. Left before the final buzzer on national TV on Wed.

On the latest @KevinOConnorNBA Show: pic.twitter.com/7FmLZAlbcW
— Mr. Statistician Face Man (@tomhaberstroh) January 17, 2025

"I think it's over. I think the Julius Randle era in Minnesota is just about over," Yahoo Sports' Tom Haberstroh said on The Kevin O'Connor Show on Thursday. "When you look at the last play of the game, they had to bring back guys onto the floor because there was still a little bit of time left. But who had already left by then? Julius Randle. He was the first guy to leave, and he was already out of the arena by the time the game had ended. He left before the play had stopped."

In fairness to Randle, when Edwards' shot went in, it did appear as though time expired. It's certainly possible that Randle thought the game was over as he made his way to the locker room, not realizing the (not) final play was under review. It could have simply been misunderstanding the game was not in fact over. And there was no chance the Wolves could win.

But Haberstroh's criticism wasn't solely focused on that final play. He was also critical of Randle's body language on the bench during the comeback attempt by the Wolves, which included them tying the game at 108-108 in the final minute after trailing by as many as 24 points earlier in the game. Wolves coach Chris Finch hasn't had a consistent closing lineup, and on Wednesday, he elected to close with Naz Reid over Randle, leaving Randle on the bench for much of the fourth.

"If you look at the body language of Julius Randle ... doesn't have great energy, even with the Knicks, that you want out of a star player, a guy who's been All-NBA, star player," Haberstroh said. "At the end of that game against the Warriors, who is the only player on the bench that was sitting during the last five minutes of the game? Julius Randle."

That's perhaps a slight exaggeration as other players on the Wolves bench were sitting at times during the final stretch. But there were also several times during the ESPN broadcast where Randle can be seen remaining seated while his teammates were cheering as the Wolves continued to cut into the deficit. After Minnesota came up short, Randle was the first out of the locker room, and the Warriors' Buddy Hield noted how he was quick to leave when they chatted postgame.

There have been no public mentions of discontent from Randle, and Finch has been routinely complimentary of the forward and what he brings to the table. What might appear to be poor body language Wednesday could mean nothing. But it did draw the attention of pundits and the criticism will only grow louder if the Wolves continue to struggle.