Kristaps Porzingis Discusses Carmelo Anthony, Knicks' Identity, More

New York Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis opened up on a number of topics during an interview with The Players' Tribune, ranging from Carmelo Anthony to the state of the Knicks going forward.  

He started by noting that he was surprised when he found out that Anthony had been traded.

"I think I texted him that day or the next day, and I just wanted to thank him for being such a great mentor to me, like a big brother to me from day one, and how grateful I am to have him around and learn from him," he said. "I also told him that he has a lot of cars but he never drives them, so I told him if he needs me to take care of his cars, I'm gonna stay in New York and take care of them."

Porzingis also noted that he believes the European experience that Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Willy Hernangomez bring to the table should help both players, adding that he believes the combination of he and Hernangomez should be fun on the court.

Unlike the team's training camp.

"I believe we have one of the hardest training camps in the NBA," Porzingis noted. "We worked on our defense 90 percent of the practice. All these defensive drills, they're disgusting. Your legs are burning like crazy, you're tired, but you keep pushing yourself and you keep supporting your teammate when he's doing the drill. That builds the bond between players. That's what's important."

Porzingis also spoke about how hard he personally worked in the offseason and his ultimate goal to win an NBA championship.

"For me, team success is always number one, and the team goal for this year is to make the playoffs. Winning a championship isn't a thing that you can do in one day. It's gonna take time. You need years to build a team that can be a contender. And as I said, if I feel like we are moving in the right direction, and we're moving toward that goal, then we're doing the right thing."

That last part certainly felt like a message for the Knicks front office, and it's hard to blame Porzingis if he doesn't trust ownership after an incredibly dysfunctional 2016-17 season that included former team president Phil Jackson openly lobbying for Anthony to drop his no-trade clause before putting Porzingis on the trade block this summer.

Porzingis clearly wasn't thrilled with how things went last season, as he skipped his exit interview with the team, reportedly in part due to disputes with head coach Jeff Hornacek and in part due to the drama surrounding the organization.

But Jackson and Anthony are now gone, leaving Porzingis as the face of the franchise. The playoffs are likely unrealistic—the Knicks are a young and unproven team—but there is talent to be excited about in New York. From Porzingis and Hernangomez to Frank Ntilikina, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Enes Kanter, the Knicks have an interesting young core.

How they fare, however, will revolve around the play of budding superstar Porzingis. And his future in New York will likely be determined by the players the front office surrounds him with going forward.

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