New York Knicks: Response to LeBron James emblematic of new team culture

Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James criticized the New York Knicks for not drafting Dennis Smith Jr. The Knicks’ response is a sign of a new culture.

When I first heard LeBron James’ critical comments against Phil Jackson’s pick of Frank Ntilikina in the 2017 NBA Draft, I was taken aback. Not so much by the comments, but more so out of confusion over why the New York Knicks were on James’ mind in November.

Ever since the years before his, “Decision,” I’ve been conditioned to find anyway I can to piece together the things James says about New York as some kind of subliminal message that he’s planning on joining the Knicks one day, and quite honesty, I still find myself doing that.

Shortly after hearing the comments, the James to the Knicks wheels started churning in my head again. However, it didn’t take long to realize that wasn’t the story here. No, the real story followed after his comments.

That story was built with the face of the franchise, Kristaps Porzingis:

Porzingis has had an absolutely phenomenal start to the 2017-18 season. In addition to his stellar performance on the court, he’s saying all the right things off of it.

First there were his comments about caring more about team performance and winning than individual statistics. Now his sharp retort to the league’s most important player proves he’s more than capable of being the leader the team needs.

Not every young player is able to come to the defense of an unproven rookie when it’s James who’s doing the inadvertent criticizing.

It wasn’t just Porzingis though who rallied around the 19-year-old Ntilikina. Center Enes Kanter was the first to jump to Ntilikina’s defense:

At Sunday’s practice, Enes Kanter expanded on his tweet to ESPN by saying:

"“I don’t care who, I just cannot let anyone disrespect my family like that, because when I play for an organization, I see my teammates and that organization as like a family and it doesn’t matter if it’s LeBron or whoever it is, I cannot just let him disrespect him like that. The coaches, the GMs, the president, this organization knows what they’re doing. … I mean, come on. That’s a rookie. You cannot just say anything like that about him” – Enes Kanter"

Comments like this show that the Knicks’ roster is coming together in a healthier manner than in previous seasons. This unit is a far cry from the lifeless quotes that Knicks fans became accustomed to reading from players after every aimless loss over the last few seasons.

The Knicks weren’t projected to be a playoff threat this year, but with an impressive record over the first month of the season, and a roster that seems to enjoy the new air in MSG, this kind of camaraderie is notable.

Of course, it’s still very early in the season to get ahead of ourselves, but when these episodes flare up, it feels good to see the Knicks dealing with them head-on and in a unified manner.

The most important response back to James’ comments was from the rookie himself, though:

Ntilikina summed it perfectly by stressing what counts the most: The performance of the team.

Must Read: Five keys to defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 13

The New York Knicks could respond best to LeBron James this evening by showing him their win against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 29 wasn’t a fluke, but the new status quo.