Porzingis on NBA All-Star voting breakdown: ‘Players know’
Kristaps Porzingis celebrates after a basket against the Nets on January 15, 2018. Credit: Getty Images / Al Bello
SALT LAKE CITY — Even though Kristaps Porzingis wasn’t voted a starter in next month’s All-Star Game, it mattered to him that the NBA players voted him third among Eastern Conference frontcourt players.
“Players know,” Porzingis said. “That’s all I’m going to say.”
Porzingis finished fourth behind LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid in the fan and media voting. The players voted Porzingis ahead of Embiid.
In the weighted system, the fans count as 50 percent of the vote and the players and media 25 percent each. The top three frontcourt players are named starters.
Porzingis still believes the coaches will pick him to appear in his first All-Star Game. The reserves will be announced Tuesday.
“I would hope so,” he said. “In my mind, I deserve it. All I got to do is play good and win games and the results will take care of itself.”
Point not taken
The Knicks considered taking point guard Donovan Mitchell eighth in the 2017 NBA Draft before former president Phil Jackson selected Frank Ntilikina. Jeff Hornacek said there was “debate.”
Mitchell, who went 13th to the Jazz, is off to a better start to his career. The 21-year-old leads all rookies with an average of 19.3 points per game. Ntilkina, 19, is a better defender, but the French guard is averaging only 5.4 points.
“With Frank, he’s got great potential,” Hornacek said. “He’s got length. He’s got the size. The NBA game will be new to him. Guys like Dennis Smith and Donovan Mitchell have kind of played the NBA style growing up. Frank has done a great job with his defense. Donovan’s doing great for Utah. They’re both going to do great things in this league.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
