New York Knicks head coach David Fizdale recently traveled to Latvia to get acquainted with his talisman player Kristaps Porzingis, spending a few days with him in his native land.

Porzingis had distanced himself from the Knicks brass after the way they had treated his former teammate Carmelo Anthony after former president Phil Jackson hung him out to dry in front of the media during exit interviews.

The Knicks now boast a brand-new front office with Steve Mills and Scott Perry at the helm and clean the last few remnants of the Jackson era with the firing of former coach Jeff Hornacek and his coaching staff.

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Fizdale was asked if the relationship between Porzingis and the organization was back in order after the slew of changes that took place after Jackson's firing.

“Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Kristaps is excited. I'm telling you right now, he's excited,” Fizdale told WNBC, via ESPN's Ian Begley.  “…I really feel like that clicked with him. I think he likes the challenge of me saying I want him to be the MVP, I want him to be defensive player of the year. Real competitors, they want that. And I'm going right at it with him. I want him to look at himself that way.”

The link between a healthy front office and a happy Porzingis will prove key next offseason, as the unicorn will be eligible for a contract extension — one he wouldn't be willing to consider if he wasn't in the same wavelength as Perry, Mills, and his new coach Fizdale.

The recently-turned 23-year-old is recovering from a torn ACL, which he suffered back in February, still expected to miss additional time after the regular season gets started.