Frank Ntilikina remained diplomatic Sunday when responding to negative comments made by Cavs' LeBron James the previous night.
Ntilikina's teammates, though, didn't hold back in coming to the point guard's defense.
"This is my rookie. This is my team. This is my organization. I cannot just let him disrespect him like that," Knicks center Enes Kanter said Sunday afternoon after practice in Westchester. "I think Frank's doing an unbelievable job. Every day, he's just working really hard to become a really good one. I just think it's going to be a process. He's doing an unbelievable job on the court, off the court, taking care of his body."
"But I don't care who (it is), I just cannot let anyone disrespect my family like that," Kanter continued. "Because when I play for an organization, I see my teammates and that organization like a family. And I don't care. It doesn't matter if it's LeBron or whoever it is, I cannot just let him disrespect him like that because the coaches, the GMs, the president, this organization knows what they're doing. So that's why I was kind of pissed that he said that, because, I mean, come on, man. That's a rookie. You cannot just say anything like that about him."
After the Cavaliers defeated the Mavericks on Saturday night in Dallas, James said Mavs rookie point guard Dennis Smith "should be a Knick."
"The Knicks passed on a really good one," James added, "and Dallas got the diamond in the rough."
The Mavs took Smith with the No. 9 overall pick of the draft, one pick after the Knicks selected Ntilikina. James was likely taking a shot at Phil Jackson, who was still the Knicks' team president at the time of the draft. James and Jackson have been feuding since November of last year, after Jackson referred to James' business associates as a "posse." James believed Jackson's comments had racist undertones.
But in the process of slighting Jackson on Saturday night, James also took a direct shot at Ntilikina _ whether he intended to or not. The Cavaliers take on the Knicks at the Garden on Monday night. Late Saturday night, Kanter quote-tweeted a video of LeBron's comments and added the caption, "Nope!! We love what we got ... Thanks!!!"
Kristaps Porzingis voiced a similar sentiment Sunday.
"I don't know why he made those comments," said Porzingis, who is third in the NBA in scoring at 30.4 points per game. "But all I can say is we love Frank. We're happy with him. He's doing a great job. He's playing great and he's doing what he's supposed to. I would not change Frank for anybody. Simple."
Ntilikina took the high road when asked about James' comments.
"In life, people can think whatever they want," Ntilikina said. "However, it's not gonna affect us and me. So whatever is said, whatever people think, me and the team are just being focused on what we're doing every day to improve and just to make us better."
Smith is averaging 14.8 points, 5.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds through his first 11 games of the season. Ntilikina, meanwhile, is averaging 4.4 points, 5.0 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 10 games. Both players are 19 years old.
Ntilikina doesn't feel like he needs to show anything to players in the league, despite LeBron's criticism.
"I don't have to prove to them, I have to prove to myself," he said. "I have to prove to the team. It's all about me and it's all about the team. I don't care what people say."
Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek isn't worried about Ntilikina taking the comments the wrong way.
"He's not afraid of competition. He's not afraid of the big moment," Hornacek said of his young point guard. "He's just a player. He knows how to play the game, and he enjoys it. He's 19 years old. He's going to get better and better as the years go on. But we love what he does."
