Frank Ntilikina sits out of practice with knee bruise; Knicks still don’t know how to spell his name

Let’s all welcome New York Knicks’ first-round pick Frank Ntilinka Ntilikina to his first round of practices as an NBA player!

Dammit, Knicks! It’s bad enough that young Frank Ntilikina will face months of scrutiny over whether or not he was only picked because he better fit the triangle; now it looks like the post-Phil Jackson Knicks don’t care enough about their No. 8 overall pick to even learn how to spell his name.

For his part, Ntilikina was gracious in putting aside the Phil drama when he spoke to reporters on Thursday, per Marc Berman:

“First of all I just want to thank him for drafting me,” Ntilikina said. “I really enjoyed the conversations we had together. Now my goal is to be focused on what I can control. Right now I’m just focused on being ready for my rookie season.”

Unfortunately, Frank cannot control freak injuries, like the collision suffered in last Friday’s game which left him with a minor knee bruise. The Frenchman didn’t participate in most of practice, and his status for Sunday’s Summer League opener is up in the air, according to Ian Begley.

Obviously the Knicks should be as cautious as possible during Summer League, but man would I ever like Frank to get out there and stunt on these haters as soon as possible. We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, enjoy some Frank interview goodness. (Yes, Kristaps Porzingis has already reached out to him by phone!)