Less than one month after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee, Kristaps Porzingis is up and walking on his own accord.
Celebrate your hearts out, New York Knicks fans.
You know, provided you’re into celebrating such things.
Porzingis himself confirmed his status on Monday, in a way that seemed neither official nor planned. He tweeted out the following photos, one of which included him standing straight up, without a boot or crutches or anything like that:
My alliance pic.twitter.com/qU0LAlfs6g
— Kristaps Porzingis (@kporzee) March 6, 2018
Naturally, then, one of Twitter’s finest heroes asked whether this meant Porzingis was walking. And he confirmed that he was, flexing emoji and all:
Yup ?? https://t.co/iZpihDBcvW
— Kristaps Porzingis (@kporzee) March 6, 2018
Look, this is a small victory—a teensy-tiny update. Porzingis isn’t expected back with the Knicks until Christmas time at the earliest. Standing and walking isn’t exactly a groundbreaking development. He has a long way to go, and we should be more interested to find out in the coming months how his knee responds to various treatments and resuming whatever basketball activities in which he’s able to partake.
Still, in the land of Knicks, any news is good news. They’re not very good right now. They’re not bad enough either—not even after their loss to the Sacramento Kings. The Knicks don’t have the juice to play their way back into the playoff race, and they don’t have the time to tank their way into contention for a top-five pick. They’ll be lucky to land a top-seven selection.
Looking at their cap situation this summer, along with their restrained development of Frank Ntilikina, Porizingis remains the Knicks’ lone ray of hope for the future. That silver lining will not be found in Trey Burke, Emmanuel Mudiay or Tim Hardaway Jr. It is in Porzingis alone. And with him working his way back from a major, potentially career-altering injury, any update is one worth talking about.
So let’s pour one out for Kristaps, and his ability to, you know, walk around and stuff.
