Channing Frye understands the risk and pain awaiting Julius Randle. He also recommends the power forward stays the course because the Knicks are contenders with him in the lineup.
Frye, the former Knick, also dislocated his shoulder in the NBA and avoided surgery for as long as possible, placing the priority on winning until a second dislocation put him under the knife.
And even though Frye still has problems raising his arm, he regrets none of it.
“You just have to be ready. If you’re committed to just playing through it, there are things that are just going to flat-out hurt. Flat out. It’s going to hurt,” Frye told The Post. “But that might not be every game. For me, Julius, he’s going to have to adjust quickly.”
Frye, now a studio analyst for TNT and NBATV, missed just five games after his first dislocation with the Suns in 2011.
He finished that campaign as Phoenix fell just short of the playoffs, then returned and had his shoulder pop out again toward the end of the following season.
Frye said the surgery put him out for five to six months, which became a longer absence because doctors found an enlarged heart during a physical.
Without surgery, there’s a high rate of recurrence. A 2019 study, published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, found that over 40 percent of NBA players suffered a second dislocation after a “shoulder instability event.”
Still, Randle, who dislocated his shoulder in late January, is rehabbing with the intention of returning this season.
There is no timetable for his return and Randle missed his 13th straight game Thursday, but the goal is to have him ready for the playoffs. Frye warned that it’s an arduous and sometimes painful process, requiring a commitment to tedious rehab.
It worked for Frye — at least in the short term — as he played well with big minutes after his first dislocation, recording two games with over 30 points.
He even played 57 minutes in a triple-OT game versus the Lakers, all while wearing a brace on his shoulder that the training staff tightened up if he felt uncomfortable.
“I don’t how much it helped, but I know mentally that was like my little blanket when things would go wrong,” Frye said. “Tighten it up, coach. Tighten it up.”
The Knicks will need that kind of stuff from Randle if they want to make a run in the playoffs.
“[Randle’s] is a very physical human being. And he draws fouls by putting that ball in their chest and moving them out of the way. When people chop down and you’re trying to go up, to rebuild those muscles that have been torn or damaged or whatever, it takes a while,” Frye said. “And every time that thing stretches out or gets pulled or yanked, it does not feel good.
“On a 1 to 10, in my situation, I’m talking 8 or 9 pain. It was definitely 8 or 9. But I wanted to play. And I didn’t want to get surgery on my shooting arm.”
Randle, fortunately, suffered the injury to his non-shooting shoulder. But he also relies more on physicality than Frye, who was a finesse/jump-shooting big man before retiring in 2019.
“For him, he’s a big ol’ dude. Make sure you do your rehab stuff everyday,” said Frye, who wore a brace on his shoulder after returning. “Without fail.”
“You had to rehab the crap out of it,” Frye added. “If we have practice at 9 o’clock, I got to get there at 8 because I have a whole hour just for my shoulder. To stretch it out, warm it up. It’s just something you got to do.”
And Frye, who tore his labrum with that first dislocation, believes it’s worth it.
“This is the regular season. This is the playoffs. And the Knicks are good this year. Knicks are very good. I’d be rehabbing, too,” Frye said. “I would not have gotten surgery, either. Forget that. I think they have a puncher’s chance at making some noise.”
Frye added that Randle is the most talented player on the Knicks, even more than Jalen Brunson.
“F— yeah. I don’t think that’s a hot take,” Frye said. “He’s 6-9, 280. And he was in the MVP conversation three years ago. Now is Jalen Brunson more skilled and has a better feel for the game? Yeah, probably. But most talented? It’s not even close. I think they would even tell you that.”