Knicks Links: All Kristaps Porzingis everything

Happy #TBT, Posting and Toasting! Today may be all about throwbacks, but unfortunately, the Knicks are still the same old Knicks.

So, as my title implies, today’s links are very Porzingis-forward. In the spirit of both that and #TBT, I present your musical selection for today:

Kristaps... Linkzingiiiiisss

— So starting off the Porzingis link-fest is something that came in just after I published yesterday, our Unicorn paying a visit to the NBPA:

Now, I joked around in the comments that KP would go to Michelle Roberts’ office and tattle on Phil Jackson after Roberts (the executive director of the NBPA) was critical of Phil’s comments on Melo last week, but um, was my joke actually real life?

Life’s fun when you Knicks.

— So speaking of Phil Jackson and Kristaps Porzingis (do I speak about anything else on here anymore than Phil, KP and Melo?): Nate Scott of Fox Sports says that if the Jackson regime can’t make Porzingis happy and help him blossom into a star, then he’s gotta go.

— In good news, KP does apparently still love this city enough to want to stay here, which is very good. I also find it funny that the NY Post asked Porzingis about this as he was walking out of his apartment.

I can’t help but picture Marc Berman staking out the Unicorn’s house in his 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, sipping coffee from a Thermos, cop movie-style. Then he wakes up from his daydream of somehow beating Woj to the Melo trade scoop as KP walks out the door, awkwardly struggles to do a reverse-Dukes-of-Hazzard-maneuver, and sprints as fast as he can to ask KP one single question: “Do you want to stay in New York?”

— In more typically Knicksy news involving KP, he likely won’t meet with any Knicks brass before going back to Latvia this week. I’m assuming that Ian Begley’s source has to be KP himself, because I can’t imagine where else he’s getting all of this KP info lately (save for maybe Kristaps’ brother, Janis). Begley also speculates that a Knicks official (he mentions Hornacek or Mills) may travel to Latvia to try to level with Kristaps.

— ESPN hosted a roundtable of writers to talk about the Knicks, including the return of Chris Herring (!!!), former Knicks beat writer for the Wall Street Journal. The article is an Insider piece, buuuuut ya boy found it on ABC News for free (LOLDisney), so you’re welcome.

— John Schmeeltz of CBS New York writes that at this point, James Dolan should encourage Phil Jackson to fully rebuild the Knicks, despite the usual line that “you can’t rebuild in New York.”

— Jared Mintz of FanRag Sports writes about the Knicks’ offseason priorities. Don’t let the FanRag label throw you off, it’s a decent article, rather than the usual Charley Rosen hot take drivel that usually comes from FanRag about the Knicks.

— In the spirit of #TBT, a couple nice stories from some former Knicks:

JR Smith’s daughter, born five months premature, is doing well and recently was able to drink from a bottle for the first time. Happy for him, especially because he seems to really have his life together.

Brandon Jennings penned a column for the Players’ Tribune about John Wall — first about playing him in high school, and second about respecting him as a leader on the Wizards. It’s actually a really funny piece, including gems like this:

My team has a backcourt of me and Isaiah Thomas (yeah, that one) — and we’re pretty much just running shit. The other team, they’ve got some guys, no doubt. It’s basically an All-Star game, you know — everyone’s got some guys. But at the point? Man, they’ve got this super-skinny kid, this junior nobody. Like … I don’t even know his name. Don’t really care, either. I think he’s from Raleigh? Could be from wherever. That’s just how it was for me that summer. I’m feeling myself, and I know that no other point at that camp can touch me. Especially not some kid I don’t know, from I-don’t-know-where.

(Spoiler: the no-name kid was John Wall.)

— Lastly, this has nothing to do with the Knicks, but is just hilarious.

Non-Knicks discussion topic of the day: It’s summer blockbuster season! What movie coming out this summer are you most looking forward to? And no, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is coming out in December, and therefore does not count as a summer movie. BE NICE TO EACH OTHER DAMMIT.