I’m 43, and I’m a huge Knicks fan. I grew up watching Patrick dominate the league, and always come up just a little short against Michael, Hakeem and Reggie. But he was our guy, our superstar, and one thing you could absolutely not say about Ewing was that he didn’t give you max effort every time he stepped on the floor. Because Patrick brought, he kept it 100.
Then I lived through the Stephon Marbury/Isiah Thomas years, which were a nightmare I’d rather forget about. Marbury was sullen, Isaiah was an egomaniac, and we had the spectacle of our general manager being found guilty of sexual harassment. All and all, it was a disaster, and one I’d like to forget about.
Then we had the Carmelo years. And I like Carmelo, I really do, but he just lacked that certain it factor. I mean he was an incredible, dynamic scorer, there’s no doubt. But he played zero defense, and he really didn’t make his teammates better, the way the great ones like Jordan did. He just didn’t elevate the team, despite consistently putting up 25 a night.
Which brings me to Kristaps Porzingis, the subject of this post. Like every other Knick fan, I was in shock the night they drafted KP with the fourth overall selection. An unknown, Latvian, like where the fuck is that, player, who had been playing in Spain the past few years. And we all remember the Knicks’ woeful history of drafting European players, from Frederic Weis to xx to xx.
But KP was different. From the beginning he showed he had the skills to be a great player. At 7’3”, with the ability to fly through the lane and dunk on just about anybody, he could be unstoppable. And he could step back and shoot the 3. You just don’t see players that tall with that kind of athletic grace. So I was psyched.
And he had a very good first season, no question. He averaged 14 points and 7 rebounds, with nearly 2 blocks. And he electrified New York City. Carmelo was still the top dog, but we could see KP was the future.
And, let’s be honest, he was a white, European player who spoke English fluently, and legions of Knicks fans were dying to root for someone who looked like them. Don’t get me wrong, Knicks fan will root for and support their favorite players no matter who they are, but this was something new, and different, and people were charged up.
His second season was good too. He scoring average went up to 18, with 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. Very solid numbers. But he did start to display a troubling propensity to get injured, and he missed 17 game, most coming at the end of the season when the Knicks chose to rest him because he was “tired.”
So now we’re in season three, and the worrying injury trend has continued, along with some decidedly Diva-esque episodes. His numbers are better than they’ve ever been, including a 40 point game with 5 rebounds and 5 blocks and two made 3 pointers, becoming the first NBA player to accomplish that feat since the 1983-84 seasons. And he’s averaging 24 points and 7 rebounds per game, which is incredible.
But he’s also missed a bunch of games, either due to injury or the dreaded “soreness” excuse. Which is worrying.
But what’s more worrying are the other signs. Over the past 15 games or so his scoring has dropped off markedly, because he was averaging nearly 30 points per game over the first 11 games or so, and now he’s down to 24 per game. He’s also had some just plain, God-awful games, where he scored, 12 points, or 14, or tonight, 15.
I mean, Michael Jordan never had a freakin 12 point game. Even on his worst night, when he had maybe been out all night gambling and doing whatever supremely talented people do when they’re not working, he still made sure he got his 20 points, minimum. So there’s that.
And a few games ago, as his play continued to decline, KP complained that he was getting hit on the elbow frequently when he shot, but the refs weren’t calling it. He wanted it to be known that he was getting a raw deal. Which may have been true, but it’s also very, um, millennial, to complain and blame others when things aren’t working out for you.
Now we have his most recent comments from the other night, after the Wizards game, when he said he was “tired” after the Knicks’ back-to-back games.
His exact words, from Yahoo Sports, were: “I’m tired, I’m tired, I’m so tired right now… We’re in a tough stretch. The mental part doesn’t help at all. When it’s mentally tough, you don’t have it in you.’’
Is he kidding? I mean fucking really, KP? Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley and Karl Malone wouldn’t have been caught dead complaining about being tired after a back-to-back. No way, no how. It wouldn’t have happened. But they’re Generation X, and KP is a millennial. The X’er’s sucked it up and did what they had to do. Millennial players never miss an opportunity to tell everyone how hard they’re working, and how tough it is, and how tired they are, and just how difficult life is.
There’s a new generation in America, and in the NBA too. And they’re starting to call some of the shots, and it’s worrying me just a bit. Because I want my fellow citizens, and my NBA stars, to be tough, and to suck it up, and to just fucking go out there and do it, and not be so freaking sensitive.
So KP, if you’re reading this, I love you. And I really do think you’re the future of the Knicks, and that you can lead us to the promised land of a championship. I just want you to toughen up a little bit, hit the weight room a little more maybe, hold your ground in the post, and stop complaining about every call and how tired you are.
I know you can be great KP. Just show it to us. And if you do, you’ll own New York City forever, and we’ll knight you and give you the keys to the city. Like Nike says, just do it.
