This is one of those where we knew it was going to happen, but it’s nice to hear it being said.
Kristaps Porzingis has had a very busy summer, like all Rookies admittedly. But because he was drafted by the Knicks and he was being compared to a pencil in terms of his size, he had to win some people over as soon as he shook Adam Silver’s hand. And good on him, the boy got some backbone, shutting the comparisons to Shawn Bradley down as soon as they were brought up by his superior Phil Jackson? Boy will survive in this league as long as he balls.
We’ve done a couple of reports of Carmelo Anthony being with Porzingis, working out together and such. But now Anthony has laid it down, he will be Porzingis’ Big Brother and mentor him.
“I kind of feel bad for him because there’s so much pressure on him at this point and this guy hasn’t played not even one minute in the NBA,” Anthony said during the Knicks’ media day Monday. “I’m going to try to be a big brother to him and kind of take the pressure off of him a little bit.
“It’s something that he never experienced before … so this is new to him. To be a newcomer to this game, to this league, in New York, that’s tough. I don’t know if he knows what he’s about to get himself into, so I kind of have to be that wall for him.”
“As I played against him, he was showing off all his moves and I was trying to learn from him,” Porzingis said. “… I’m trying to learn as much as I can from him, asking him questions. For me to be around him all day long is great.“
Man Melo is really taking this veteran leadership thing seriously. I mean I’d like to see it on the court but this is a start.
Porzingis has drawn a lot of undeserved criticism, the kid hasn’t even played a legit NBA game yet! Let’s hold off the “Darko 2.0” for at least until next year alright? He’ll have time to shine, let’s just see if he’ll do just that.
