The Minnesota Timbewolves’ Julius Randle details what makes the Oklahoma City Thunder so difficult to beat and how the Timberwolves can win their first title this season. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
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It’s hard to believe, but Julius Randle is more than a decade into his career.
The former No. 7 overall draft pick of the Los Angeles Lakers back in 2014 is now a full-established veteran star on the Minnesota Timberwolves. Previously selected to be the potential face of the Lakers in the post-Kobe Bryant era – he played two seasons with the all-time great – Randle instead emerged as a legit franchise piece much later on in his career with the New York Knicks.
Since the 2020-21 season, Randle has won an NBA Most Improved Player of the Year award, been named an All-Star on three occasions and has been on the All-NBA team twice.
Along the way, he’s made deep playoff runs with both the Knicks and Timberwolves, recently going to the Western Conference Finals as a member of Minnesota’s squad during his first season.
He says the only objective that he has left is winning a championship, something he’s aiming to do in his second season teaming up with one of the top young players in the league in Anthony Edwards.
“Absolutely, that’s it,” said Randle in a one-on-one interview when asked if his lone objective is to win a championship. “It’s as simple as that.”
The Timberwolves have been a credible Western Conference threat over the past two seasons, advancing to the conference finals in each of the past two seasons. That has largely coincided with the emergence of Edwards, one of the top players in the NBA already at the age of 24.
Edwards is averaging 28.7 points per game – seventh in the NBA – and he has garnered MVP votes in each of the past two years.
However, Minnesota has largely been outmatched in the Western Conference Finals, winning a combined two games in those two series.
The Western Conference is obviously tougher this year, with the Thunder off to an NBA-record start at 24-1. They’ve accomplished this despite the early-season absence of Jalen Williams and more recently Isaiah Hartenstein, two key starters in the lineup.
That’s not mentioning the new-look Houston Rockets led by Kevin Durant, the Nikola Jokic-led Denver Nuggets or the Los Angeles Lakers, who are thriving with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves as the top two options with LeBron James playing the No. 3 role.
Randle details what makes the Thunder so dangerous and why they’re the best team in the NBA.
“I think matching their intensity and matching how hard they play,” said Randle. “Obviously, you can’t turn the ball over, you can’t really isolate versus them. They swarm you from that aspect, that’s how they create turnovers, and they feast off of that. Can’t let them have big runs.”
The Thunder are an all-around great squad. Led by reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City is second in points per game (123.6) and first in points allowed per game (106.2). They’re first in net rating (+17.2), which is far better than their +12.9 point differential from last season, an NBA record while winning 68 games.
The Timberwolves won one game in the conference finals against the Thunder last season, outmatched in most of their games against them. Outside of their two-point loss to Oklahoma City in Game 4, Minnesota lost their other three games to Oklahoma City by an average margin of 23.6 points per game.
Randle – who has been to the playoffs multiple times – says he understands what it takes to win a championship, but it’s obviously not easy to “perfect it.” He’ll aim to do that and lead the Timberwolves to their first-ever NBA Finals appearance and championship this season.
“You understand it,” said Randle of understanding what it takes to win. “If you could perfect it, and you knew everything, you would do it. You take a little bit everything, from every year, and you’re like, ‘Alright, I’ll learn from this.’ This is what I can take from the experience this year. It’s no different than when you’re get trying to get better at your game or your craft. It’s like art. This is a roadblock, this is how I can get better. This is how I have a better approach.”
After a slow start to the 2025-26 season, the Timberwolves are starting to get on the right track, winning six of their past seven games. They just defeated the Golden State Warriors in Steph Curry’s return to Chase Center, winning 127-120 behind Randle’s 27 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
“We took things from last year, got this far, and in order to be this team, or in order to get to where we want to be, these are certain things that we have to do,” said Randle. “I understand it a lot more now in year 12 than I did in year five or six or wherever. Experience helps, but they’re a young team too. They did the right things and had the right habits. We can do the same thing as well.”
Julius Randle On How Dymatize Helps With Training Routine And Body Getting Stronger
Randle is partnering with Dymatize, a brand well-known for their nutritional and fitness supplements. Other well-known athletes across the board as the NFL’s Christian McCaffrey and tennis star Tommy Paul have also mentioned their use of Dymatize and how it helps with their recovery and workout routines.
Julius Randle says using Dymatize products helps make his body stronger.
Dymatize
The Timberwolves star mentions the products having the same effect on him.
“It’s a great partnership,” said Randle of partnering with Dymatize. “Especially as an athlete, always looking for that extra edge, extra fuel for me, particularly extra protein, I play a physical style of brand of basketball. To just partner with them, being able to have something that I can rely on that’s very efficient, healthy and nutritious for my body.
“Partnering with Dymatize has been cool,” Randle continued to say. “I love it. After every game, the first thing I do is get my protein shake, just to make sure I’m getting the proper fuel and recovery immediately after the game. And then I’m able to go or after work, I’m able to go about my day.”
Julius Randle says using Dymatize products helps make his body stronger.
Dymatize
He mentions that the cocoa pebbles is his favorites flavor. Randle says the use of the Dymatize products started over the summer about five or six months ago in an effort to make his body stronger.
“It started this summer, so I’d say about almost like five or six months,” said Randle of how long he’s been using Dymatize. “Every summer I go into it, ‘Alright, how can I improve now? How can I get better as a basketball player?’ But for me, I work really hard on just making sure my body is strong and getting myself ready for that. It’s like, ‘How can I get stronger? How can I get better nutrition? What are some habits that I can a little bit better than I did the year before?’
“Just working with my team around me and finding Dymatize as a partner to be able to do that,” Randle continued to say. “Just add that as another check mark for one of my healthy routines, habits after games and stuff, and making sure I’m properly fueled so I can get through a long season to get through 82 games.”