New York Knicks head coach David Fizdale plans to waste zero time when it comes to getting to know his star player in 22-year-old power forward Kristaps Porzingis.
Fizdale said during ESPN's 2018 NBA Draft Combine coverage on Thursday that he intends to go through a “step-by-step” plan to develop a strong relationship with Porzingis.
“Step-by-step. I won't skip a step. I'll spend a ton of time with he and his family. I want to hear their experience and what they see going forward for Kristaps and how I can interject and help him in any way become what I think he can be, which is an MVP-caliber player,” coach Fizdale said, via a tweet from Knicks beat reporter Ian Begley of ESPN.
However, bringing a winning culture back to the Knicks franchise is what Fizdale wants the most and Porzingis will play a huge part in achieving that.
“Part of that goes along with winning. And I know that's what he's ready to do,” Fizdale said of Porzingis. “So I want to make sure that they see, from my standpoint, that we're connected, that the vision is the same, that we want the same culture. And that we all have the same thing in mind, which is eventually holding the trophy in New York.”
It was revealed on Wednesday by Knicks general manager Scott Perry that there is still not a definitive timeframe for Porzingis' return from his devastating ACL injury back in early February.
Porzingis, who is entering the last year of his guaranteed rookie contract with the Knicks next season, averaged 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots per game in 48 contests during the 2017-18 campaign.
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