• Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

NEW YORK — What a difference a night makes. Draft night, in late June of this year when the Knicks picked their selection, Commissioner Adam Silver walked to the podium and the crowd waited with baited breath. Commissioner Silver approached the microphone and gleefully declared, “with the fourth pick of the 2015 NBA Draft, the New York Knicks select, Kristaps Por…” and that’s when everything went haywire.

The boos and hisses and mere shrieks of agony cascaded so loud you could barely hear the rest of Porzingis’s name as it was being announced. To the young and sleek lad’s credit who sat patiently with his family before walking from the Green Room to shake the commish’s hand, he seemed to take it all in stride.  Much like Danilo Gallinari who was a virtual unknown and was also booed unmercifully but ended up turning into a Garden favorite.

Porzingis is doing more than turning heads around the NBA.  Basketball purest however, knew that Porzingis had talent and he also had height and lots of it.  As they say, ‘you can’t teach seven feet.’  But, you also can’t teach heart and Porzingis also known as, “KP” by his Knicks teammates particularly, Carmelo Anthony, has plenty of heart.

Knicks

Going to the basket with style and flare, check.  Going to the basket with force, check.  Posting up, check.  Taking opponents off the dribble, check.  Taking big shots when the team needs them, check.  Oh and we must not forget, posterizing his fellow combatants, double-check!

It’s early but all signs point to Porzingis making Phil Jackson look pretty good with this pick with his stellar play.  But, was it totally Phil’s call?  Did he really know, KP had the talent to turn heads and garner cheers? Whatever it may be, the Knicks as an organization are ecstatic with his work ethic, character and willingness to listen and learn.

To date, he has 4 double-doubles and is adjusting to the hype of playing at the World’s Most Famous Arena.  Opponents such as Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and others have found favor in what they saw from the young Latvian.

The sky’s the limit for this young man, can he be the link that attract convince other free agents to come play with him and Carmelo is the $64,000 question.

You can also follow Jerald on Twitter@JerryHoover65

 

 

By Jerald Hoover

Editor-in-chief and Senior Writer; Professor Jerald L. Hoover is an instructor at LIU-Brooklyn where he teaches Strategic Sport Communication and Sports Management.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.