New York Knicks: Why Kristaps Porzingis and Jeff Hornacek need each other

Reports of bickering inside the New York Knicks last year shouldn’t surprise anyone. Yet, Jeff Hornacek and Kristaps Porzingis need each other this season.

Yesterday, Peter Vecsey and Ryan Phillips of The Big Lead pulled the curtain on the Kristaps Porzingis drama, revealing an unlikely New York Knicks nemesis. All along it was thought that Phil Jackson caused the Porzingis summer drama. However, head coach Jeff Hornacek is apparently the cause of it all.

In short, Hornacek supposedly told Willy Hernangomez to relay a message to KP. The reported message included salty language meant to emasculate Porzingis and thus get his attention. If Hornacek wanted to get the Unicorn’s attention, he got it in a big way.

The previously mentioned message was the reason KP skipped the infamous exit interview and sulked early in the offseason. Phil Jackson then added fuel to the fire by entertaining trade offers for Porzingis leading up to the NBA Draft.

Now that the NBA preseason is nearly here, the player-coach relationship becomes very important. The fact is both player and coach are adult men who need to address the issue and move on. Porzingis needs his coach and Hornacek needs his star player…especially once they trade Carmelo Anthony.

Jeff Hornacek needs Kristaps Porzingis

Kristaps Porzingis is both the present and future of the New York Knicks. On one hand, Porzingis hasn’t proven much so far in his career. On the other, if Hornacek can’t move the Knicks forward, his career in New York could be over soon.

The circumstances surrounding the supposed message Hornacek wanted Porzingis to hear aren’t clear. What is clear is that when one man wants another man to hear a message, he tells it to him face to face. If Jeff Hornacek is too scared or too timid to deliver a harsh message to a star player, he shouldn’t be a head coach in the NBA.

Jeff Hornacek comes from an era of basketball that was much more physical than is allowed in the modern NBA. Therefore, he probably had a legitimate concern about Porzingis playing more physical. The issue isn’t his desire for more physical play; the issue is how Hornacek communicated that desire.

If Hornacek wants to continue as coach of the New York Knicks, he needs Kristaps Porzingis. The sooner he realizes this fact, the sooner everyone involved can move on. KP’s team friendly contract means he isn’t going anywhere for years, but Hornacek does not have that luxury.

Kristaps Porzingis needs Jeff Hornacek

One of the greatest assets a young player can have around is an NBA veteran to teach him how to play. That asset for Kristaps Porzingis is his head coach and his 14 years as an NBA player. Hornacek saw the greatness of Karl Malone and how his toughness affected the entire team firsthand.

It is very likely that Hornacek sees similarities between Porzingis and Karl Malone. KP is more versatile in his abilities, can shoot, rebound and fill the lane similar to Malone. However, KP doesn’t have the toughness of a Karl Malone or even John Stockton. Porzingis needs to hear the tough talk from Hornacek and integrate it into his game.

The upbeat style of basketball Jeff Hornacek employed with the Phoenix Suns will make an appearance in New York this season. Consequently, Porzingis will have more open floor opportunities this year than he has seen in his young NBA career.

If the Knicks and KP can add physicality to that up-tempo playing style, the team could actually make a playoff run. Porzingis should be thankful for a coach who will demand more out of him at all times. The truth is, if being called a bad name by a coach made KP run away…he does need to toughen up.

They need each other

In every team sport, the relationship between players and coaches is more important than game strategy. When issues arise in a professional setting, both parties involved should be expected to talk to each other like adults. Name calling and running away don’t resolve issues in high school and won’t resolve the issues between Hornacek and Porzingis.

Both men need each other if either of them expect to be successful in the NBA. Hornacek will rely on KP to be the offensive focal point now that Carmelo is being phased out. Likewise, Porzingis will rely on his coach to put him in a position to use all of his abilities.

The New York Knicks are at a crossroads between “laughingstock” and “contender” heading into this season. Sophomoric and idiotic inner battles like name-calling have to stop if they expect to be anything other than a punchline or a punching bag.

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It doesn’t shock anyone that the inner workings of Madison Square Garden include bickering and back-biting. Yet, if Jeff Hornacek and Kristaps Porzingis expect to see success this year, both men need to grow up.