The Knicks mess might somehow be worse than we initially thought. We knew Phil Jackson and the Knicks agreeing to opt in for the last two years of his contract was a curious choice given how bad Jackson has been in his first three years running the front office. We knew the relationship between Jackson and Carmelo Anthony was toxic, to the point that Jackson is straight up telling the media that Anthony needs to leave and Anthony reacting with memes.
However, we didn’t know that the best thing the Knicks have going for it moving forward, young star Kristaps Porzingis, was just as fed up with Jackson as Anthony and Knicks fans.
According to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Porzingis, who skipped exit interviews, wants nothing to do with the organization this summer and is planning an extended trip back to Latvia and might not be back in New York until right before training camp.
Porzingis isn’t alone in not wanting to participate in the team’s workouts this summer that will be heavily focused on implementing the triangle offense. According to Wojnarowski, there is an “open rebellion” to the triangle happening within the organization, as Jackson continues to insist that Jeff Hornacek install the offensive system Jackson used to win his 11 championships as a head coach.
Other than questions about the system, Porzingis is also reportedly fed up with the way the entire organization operates, from the top down.
Porzingis has educated himself on how successful NBA organizations are run and knows now that the Knicks – from ownership to management to coaching – are nowhere near delivering him the platform to develop into the cornerstone of a winning team.
Aside from being an absolutely incredible line from Woj, it’s clear that Porzingis, once a wide-eyed, hungry to succeed kid from Latvia, has quickly learned why Knicks fans have been frustrated with the organization for decades. Porzingis has two years left before he would have the opportunity to sign a qualifying offer or enter restricted free agency and all but assure himself of another four or five years in New York.
Jackson will be there for both of those two years, so if he’s not careful in mending fences with the Knicks young star, there is a possibility that Porzingis could make the extremely rare decision to take less money for one year in order to gain the freedom of unrestricted free agency.
