Rumor has it that Jeff Hornacek and Kristaps Porzingis did not get along too well during their time with the New York Knicks while Hornacek served as Porzingis' coach, but Hornacek has nothing but good things to say about the big man now, applauding his work ethic:

“His mindset was, ‘I want to be a winner, I want to be the best guy in the league,’ ” Hornacek said, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. “It’s not like in practice, he took it easy. When we practiced, he went at it like a game.”

Hornacek spent two seasons as head coach of the Knicks, going 60-104 before being fired at the conclusion of the 2017-18 campaign. He is not currently coaching in the NBA, but he has plans of doing so again:

“I absolutely want to be back coaching and getting back at it after a little break here,” Hornacek said.

Porzingis was originally selected by the Knicks with the fourth overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft, a pick that was immediately met with boos and contention from New York fans.

However, the moment Porzingis demonstrated his phenomenal ability during his rookie campaign, the Knicks faithful quickly fell in love with the wonderkid.

But just like most other things involving the Knicks over the better part of the last two decades, things unraveled, as Porzingis' relationship with New York's front office soured.

He then tore his ACL midway through last season and has not played since.

The Knicks proceeded to trade him to the Dallas Mavericks prior to the trade deadline last week.