Jeff Hornacek has been on a whirlwind tour since becoming the head coach of the New York Knicks. He's watched Carmelo Anthony work out, met Lance Thomas, Derrick Rose and (one would assume) Joakim Noah.
But that was nothing -- NOTHING -- compared to the experience of meeting the Chosen One, Kristaps Porzingis:
KP6 and Jeff Hornacek meet for first time. pic.twitter.com/RKip5Zekv5
— Marc Berman (@NYPost_Berman) July 2, 2016
Keep in mind, Jeff Hornacek played professional basketball. He is listed at 6'3", well above average for an adult American male. And Kristaps makes him look like a member of the Lollipop Guild.
Kristaps and Hornacek went out to dinner on Saturday, and the coach dropped in on a Kristaps practice the following morning. You can watch his reaction in this interview clip.
Hornacek made a crack about watching Kristaps' workout tapes last season and thinking they must have been edited. But now he has seen the Unicorn up close and personal, and it was glorious:
"From a distance playing against him one time, I knew he was a decent shooter, but he's a really good shooter. Looking at him in the gym, his stroke and how he does it and the abilities the guys are working with him on -- driving to the basket, post-up game -- he's going to be a great player."
Yes he is, Jeff. Yes he is.
Kristaps, meanwhile, has been focusing on fine-tuning the machine. Per Marc Berman:
"Especially in the lower body, that's what we've been focusing on,'' Porzingis said. "Last offseason, we focused on getting bigger and muscle. Beginning of the season, I felt I was heavy. This time, start from the legs, lower body, the core and make sure that is strong to hold up more weight and build from there."
He upgrades the hardware every year or so, like Terminator models. He's going to destroy us all.