As he continues his long rehab from ACL surgery, New York Knicks All-Star Kristaps Porzingis tweeted his thoughts on Manu Ginobili.
We are officially under 50 days away from the start of the 2018-19 NBA season as teams prepare for the start of training camp. This season’s storyline heading into camp surrounds the health of New York Knicks All-Star Kristaps Porzingis.
The Latvia native is still in rehab recovering from the torn ACL suffered earlier this year. His presence hasn’t been seen in New York much since the incident, as he has preferred to do treatment at Real Madrid. Knicks head coach David Fizdale has already made the trip to see Porzingis, helping to strengthen their bond before the start of the new season.
The Unicorn was a spectator like the millions of other basketball fans awaiting San Antonio Spurs legend Manu Ginobili’s decision on retirement. After the announcement was made official, many fans and players around the league shared their congrats with the four-time champion as he brought his playing career to a close.
An international star from Argentina, Ginobili was already a top player coming into the NBA with legions of fans. Porzingis was one of those fans influenced by his style and winning ways, tweeting out congratulations on an amazing career.
Congrats on an amazing career @manuginobili! Won everything on every level! Unbelievable 🙌🏼🙌🏼 #legend
— Kristaps Porzingis (@kporzee) August 28, 2018
Ginobili was a very popular player whenever the Spurs were in New York to play the Knicks, as large crowds of fans would fill Madison Square Garden carrying Argentina flags and jerseys.
The two time NBA All-Star spoke with reporters after a 100-91 Spurs victory in New York in January, expressing his awareness of the large fanbase at games.
"“I saw it coming before the game. When I started getting texts saying, ‘Listen my doctor is coming, can you say hi?’ and ‘a friend of a friend’ and ‘my brother is coming,’ I said, ‘OK, there’s going to be a lot of Argentinians here.’ I tried to come early.”"
In 48 games last year, Porzingis averaged 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game, shooting 44 percent from the field. His absence after the injury immediately ended any Knicks playoff hopes last season and will probably hurt any chances this year.
In a recent episode of his YouTube channel show titled “Porzingis’ Comeback,” the fourth year forward shared his thoughts on the rehab to that point.
"“I’m getting shots up in the gym, moving my feet, jumping a bit but not allowed to run yet. I’m taking time with that, making sure the muscles are back to normal before I start running. I’m walking an hour at a good pace, doing upper body, lifting weights. Not too obsessed with that. I don’t want to put too much stress on the knee coming out of the surgery.“The main thing is working on the whole body and biomechanics that it’s strong when I come back. Obviously, I want to come back and feel the same athletically as I did before the injury and even better. I’m healing really fast and we’re doing all the right things that we don’t rush anything. It’s been really, really smooth so far.”"
The Knicks will most likely not have their Unicorn ready for the start of the 2018-19 season, but it’s more beneficial for him to be healthy for the long-term. New York has a young nucleus that if placed together correctly, could build into a contender one day.