Subscribe
Follow Us
While the NBA season may not have gone the way many thought it would for the New York Knicks, players insist it hasn’t been a waste. One of those players, Frank Ntilikina, is adamant that the season hasn’t been lost despite the teams poor record.
“Nothing is lost,” he told The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov. “I’ve learned a lot. More than you think while being on the side while also working on my mind. I’ve learned a lot. I think I’ve improved a lot, even things you don’t see. Now I’m just looking what’s ahead of me and I’ll work my ass off to be the best Frank I can be.”
The Knicks currently sit at 14-59, the worst record in the NBA and best odds for a chance at getting the top draft pick in the NBA draft lottery. Despite that, Ntilikina is still happy to be learning how to properly play in the NBA, and is treating every game as a chance to grow in a league that he hasn’t been around in for much time.
“You see the game on the side,” he said. “You’re learning a lot. You’re watching a lot of film. You’re watching a lot of behaviors. You’re watching not only your team, all the NBA. You’re trying to do something, you cannot play. You’re still trying to learn and improve. That’s my mindset. I’m trying to get better at everything. I was not chilling for this. I did improve.” Currently, Ntilikina is averaging 5.9 points, 2.9 assists, and 2 rebounds per game, and has more or less been regulated as a bench option for the struggling Knicks, especially once the team acquired Dennis Smith Jr. from the Dallas Mavericks.”
Originally selected 8th overall in the 2017 NBA Draft from French basketball club SIG Strasbourg, it seems less and less likely that Ntilikina will ever be the long-term solution for the Knicks at point guard. For Ntilikina, however, there’s still a long career to be had, and learning new things every year will be crucial to sticking around in the league.
