Knicks legend Bernard King gives Kristaps Porzingis high praise

After years of disappointment and dysfunction, the New York Knicks appear to have their franchise player of the future finally. International import Kristaps Porzingis has exceeded expectations in his short time in New York. He now seems to be in the NBA MVP conversation with an incredible start to the 2017-18 campaign.

Knicks legend Bernard King spoke about Porzingis and what he sees from the team’s new talisman. King had high praise for the Latvian product saying the following in an interview with ESPN’s Ian Begley.

“He’s been really outstanding,” King said of the Knicks’ third-year big man. “I’ve never seen a 7-foot-3 guy that can hit 3-point shots the way he does. Also, he has a tremendous understanding of basketball and where his placement of his body is on the court in terms of positioning. And how to get position.”

King, who was an incredible player and a dominant scorer during his time with the Knicks, believes that Porzingis might be a player that we simply haven’t seen before in the NBA, via Begley.

“What I see most beyond scoring is his court vision. He has great vision,” King said. “And you don’t always see that in players. And when I say great court vision, he has court vision of a guard.

“That’s rare to see that in a big man, particularly of his size. I don’t know if we’ve ever seen that before.”

Currently, the Knicks are sporting a winning record at 9-7. They have seemingly moved on from the Carmelo Anthony era in New York. The team functions much better with Porzingis as the number one option in the offense opposed to a ball stopper like Anthony.

As long as Porzingis can stay healthy for the duration of his NBA career, and all indications point to that being the case, the Knicks may have an MVP-caliber player on there hands who may attract free agents and help bring the team back to prominence in the league.