NY Knicks: Kevin Knox, 2021 Summer League, and his NBA Future
By James Ryder
Do you remember where you were, on July 10th, 2018, the day NY Knicks rookie Kevin Knox proved he was a future star in the making?
I do. Let’s rewind. I spent that day at a friend’s house. For much of the afternoon, I was just hanging out in the backyard and swimming. I knew the New York Knicks would be playing the Los Angeles Lakers in Summer League (SL). I decided to swim rather than watch the first quarter. By the time the second quarter came around, I was out of the pool, dried off, and I started to stream the game on my phone with the ESPN app.
NY Knicks: Kevin Knox’s first Summer League
The NY Knicks trailed 24-23. As I watched the second quarter, there were a couple of nice baskets from the New York neophytes, but the one-point lead eventually became an 11 point lead at halftime. Knox scored the final basket of the first half by going the full length of the court for a fading baseline hook shot. And in the third quarter, it didn’t take long for the Lakers to go up 25. Josh Hart was having a field day.
He finished that game with a nasty 27 points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Even Alex Caruso was showing his NBA worth, as he contributed five points, four rebounds and 10 assists. The Lakers were already 2-0 in Summer League and this game looked like it was a lost cause.
Enter Knox.
With just under 3 minutes left and the score at 75-58, Troy Williams found Knox wide open for a corner three that he canned to cut the LA lead to 14. Back on defense, he helped force a turnover, lead the fast break, and returned the favor to Williams, who he found on the elbow for another three. Do you like 3-pointers? Because there were more on the way.
On back-to-back possessions, Knox spotted up on the left elbow from deep and hit both times. And finally, about a minute later with just 16 seconds left, Knox in isolation nailed another three from straight away on a crossover move. Suddenly, it was 78-76. Kevin Knox was responsible for 15 of the points the Knicks scored in a 28-3 3rd quarter run. Knox completed that game with a game-high 29 points, and he also had nine boards and two assists.
The Lakers wound up getting a comfortable lead again and won that game, but I and so many other Knicks fans were inspired by the shooting display Knox put on.