Through his first couple of seasons in the league, New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis has become one of the most promising big men behind his unique skill set on both ends of the court.
All of this led to Golden State Warriors star forward Kevin Durant to dub him as a “unicorn” back in January 2016 that has since stuck onto him because of his special and rare ability. Porzingis discussed his initial reaction to the nickname during a scheduled appearance on the “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Thursday, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post.
“At first I was a little confused,’’ Porzingis told Fallon. “What is it? A horse with a pony tail? What does it mean? They explained it to me. What he tried to say I was a unique player. It was nice to hear [Durant] say nice things about me.”
The 22-year-old has undoubtedly shown much reason for that huge praise from Durant as he has continued to take strides offensively in his third season averaging a career-high 27.0 points per game on 46.7 percent shooting from the field and 40.2 percent from beyond the arc.
This includes becoming the youngest player in NBA history to scored 30 or more points in five of the first six games of the season. He is also the youngest to score more than 400 points in the first 15 overall games of a season. Porzingis has been able to perform at this elite level despite being 7-foot-3 due to his offensive skill set that allows him to operate in similar fashion to a guard.
Porzingis has also shown to have a tremendous impact on the game defensively as one of the game's best rim protectors averaging a league-best 2.2 blocks this season. His versatility on both ends of the floor has lent quite well to him experiencing much personal success in the process.
Porzingis is currently dealing with a sprained ankle injury, but if he's able to avoid any significant injuries and remains relatively healthy over the duration of his career, the sky could be the limit for his NBA future.
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