Kristaps Porzingis (Photo : Elsa | Getty Images Sport)
The praises continue to roll for Kristaps Porzingis, as he starts to feel the perks of being in the Big Apple.
The young Latvian center stands a lanky 7-3, and was a mystery for most NBA executives, but Phil Jackson took a chance and it reinforced his reputation as a basketball sage.
Because of his stature and European roots, Porzingis was compared to the two best Euro big men by former Lakers star and presently Knicks assistant Kurt Rambis. He noted Porzingis' versatility led him to cite Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki comparisons to Newsday.
"He might be a combination of both of them because he can do so many things," Rambis said. "He already understands basketball. He already knows what to do. He's an unselfish ballplayer. He makes really good decisions. It wasn't like he's a blank slate coming in here. He knows how to play. He's going to be fun to work with."
In the NY Daily News, no less than Pau Gasol's teammate in the Spanish national team, Jose Calderon declared that Porzingis may be better than the two-time NBA champion who now plays for the Bulls.
"The surprise is he's doing it right away," Calderon said. "He's been pretty consistent. That's what surprises me the most; he's putting up big numbers now. Nobody expected that."
"If I'm not mistaken it took Pau a little bit longer to get those big numbers," Calderon added. "But also remember, Pau was the Rookie of the Year. Let's see where we are at the end of the year. But this is a good start."
It would be best to concentrate on game performance, but Porzingis welcomes challenges, as when he said he would like to "get back" at Dwight Howard for dunking on him. The Rookie of the Year award could be a goal for the youngster whom Carmelo Anthony declared as the Knicks franchise player after he retires.
