Before entering the NBA, New York Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
OK, no he didn’t. But you get the point.
Porzingis has endeared himself to fans and pundits, even those outside of New York. Deemed a years-long project on draft night, the 20-year-old Latvian product is far more polished than originally advertised. His handle and outside shot need some work, but he’s a swiss army knife on the offensive end, always adding to his game, turning weaknesses into strengths or promising works in progress over the course of just a few days. There’s nothing he really needs to change on the defensive end, either. He sometimes fouls too much, but he’s even had that under control in recent weeks. He is making the right reads, remains a fixture at the rim and is just a genuine nuisance for frontcourt opponents, even those who are much stronger than himself.
Which is to say, Knicks president Phil Jackson should be taking a bow, demanding applause, pumping his fist or running naked through Central Park reciting the lyrics to the Kristaps Porzingis rap song. He should be doing something. Anything.
It was him, and likely scores of scouts, who made the decision to take Porzingis over players who were considered sure things. The Knicks could have traded the No. 4 pick in the draft with the hope of expediting their rebuild. They could have selected Justise Winslow or Willie Cauley-Stein or Emmanuel Mudiay.
Instead, they took Porzingis, a supposed project and an obvious risk. And now, because Jackson and crew took that risk, they’re doing what they aimed to do in the first place: expedite New York’s rebuild.
Porzingis is that good right now.
So yes, Jackson deserves some dap.
Only he won’t accept any.
Speaking with former NBA player Rick Fox, whom Jackson coached, on Sirius XM NBA radio Wednesday (via Marc Berman of the New York Post), the Zen Master deferred all of the credit for Porzingis’ meteoric rise to, well, Porzingis:
“There’s a magical element to this young man that’s caught the admiration of the fan base and around the country who follow the Knicks,’’ Jackson said. “He’s got the right temperament, right attitude, carries himself well. He’s not getting the calls, [but] he doesn’t protest or get upset.
“He has a very calm, balanced nature about his game,’’ Jackson added. “It’s a learning process. You see the growth game to game. That’s really the ticket you look at. You watch a young player developing, learning, how he’s learning to deal with the physical nature of the game, speed of our game. The other day [the media] made a big thing of [Dwight] Howard dunking over the top of him. It’s ridiculous. Everyone gets dunked on in the NBA. He laughed it off. He’s a lightning rod to our fan corps. You can’t hide him. He stands out in the crowd.’’
In sum, Porzingis fever is going around, and Jackson has it bad, in the best way possible.
