Dallas Mavericks forward Kristaps Porzingis will be playing against his former team, the New York Knicks, on Thursday. Porzingis is already expecting fans at Madison Square Garden to react negatively toward him:
Kristaps Porzingis will play as a visitor in Madison Square Garden for the first time on Thursday. At practice this morning, he said if social media is any indication of how he will be received, he expects fans’ response to be negative. “But we will see.”
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) November 13, 2019
Porzingis, the fourth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, was expected to be a Knicks cornerstone for a long time. Before he suffered his ACL injury back in 2018, he was putting up 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 2.4 blocks per game.
Unfortunately, the torn ACL and organizational dysfunction helped prematurely end his time in New York. Porzingis asked for a trade, and he ultimately was dealt to the Mavs before last season's trade deadline.
Nothing has changed in New York since Porzingis left.
The Knicks are dead last in the Eastern Conference with a 2-9 record this season. They already had the worst record in the NBA last season, and they're on their way to another abysmal campaign.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks are one of the better teams in the Western Conference with a 6-4 record. They've been really impressive despite Porzingis' shooting struggles, and they'll just get better once he gets his rhythm back. KP is averaging 18.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks in nine games for Dallas.
Knicks fans obviously have the right to boo Kristaps Porzingis, but with what has been happening with their franchise over the past 20 years, is it really right to hate on the big man for wanting to leave such an atrocious situation?
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