New York Knicks: Should Kristaps Porzingis Be The Featured Star?

Taking Over?

While being taught and shown things by a mentor is a good thing, it can only go so far. Yes, there is someone giving Kristaps Porzingis the steps to success, but there’s a point where all of that information is useless if he isn’t able to apply and utilize it independently.

Dirk Nowitzki has a mentor by the name of Holger Geschwindner. He met Nowitzki when he was only 15 years old, and he makes about three stops in Dallas each season to check in with Nowitzki and evaluate his shot and his play.

At the same time, Nowitzki is still the star of the team.

For Porzingis, having a mentor isn’t a bad thing—by any means. Countless greats have had one at some point in their lives. Michael Jordan had Dean Smith, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had Muhammad Ali and John Wooden.

Porzingis can (and probably should) have a mentor, too. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a teammate like Carmelo Anthony or Sasha Vujacic. Eventually, if he continues to improve his play, there be a time where Porzingis will embrace the star role in New York, with or without Anthony.

If he wants to have a mentor through his process of superstardom, then he should most certainly have one.

In short, there must be a point in time where he becomes the one leading player, while he utilizes skills that he has learned from a mentor or others. Just like Dirk Nowitzki.