Return of the Jedi?
Kriataps Porzingis will likely kiss and make nice with the team before too long, having served his warning shot that he’s not going to put up with whatever nonsense the organization feels it can get away with.
But Phil’s response to this will be as important as anything he has done in his tenure as President of the Knicks. He could go to his budding star, with hat in hand, and assure him that what he experienced over the last two years will not continue. Somewhere in the conversation it should be made clear that Porzingis has every right to think the team has been run like a clown show because, well, Porzingis is presumably a sane individual.
Hoops Habit
The alternative for Knicks fans is the more likely and far scarier scenario. Phil makes no effort to reach out to KP and uses this situation to further test the meddle of someone who has been nothing short of exemplary in his two years with the team.
As he made very clear in his press conference, everyone – including Porzingis – is on the table. Jackson has made even clearer that he only wants players here who are 100 percent committed to his vision. If Porzingis isn’t on board, he might even think that trading KP is the best move for the organization. Boston would surely put one if not both Brooklyn picks on the table. An argument could be made for the move – that if you’re going to blow it up, go scorched earth.
While that argument holds water, it is entirely beside the point. Fans wait their entire lives to be able to root for a player like Kristaps Porzingis. He is a Knick, and no Knick has given fans as much reason to be as hopeful since Patrick Ewing. The organization has not been the same since Ewing left. That is, until KP started doing things last season that no player in the history of the game had ever done at that size.
For Phil Jackson to go the prideful route here would take all of that and disregard it. He has made a lot of mistakes in his time here, but has done just enough right to keep a segment of the fan base hopeful for tomorrow.
Must Read: For Better Or Worse, The Miami Heat Are Expected To Re-Sign Waiters, Johnson
If he doesn’t do the right thing here, whatever support he has left will vanish. All that the team will have left will be a style of play – one he so often preaches about, one he so badly wants the team to be identified by. He may get his wish. The question is whether the most important part of the franchise will be left to see it.