Nowitzki: Kristaps Porzingis 'way better than I was at 20'
New York Knicks rookie phenom Kristaps Porzingis met his childhood idol in Dirk Nowitzki prior to Monday's loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
After trading 25 points for Porzingis's 28, Nowitzki blessed him with the kindest of compliments from a future Hall-of-Famer.
"It's more than fair," Nowitzki said of comparisons to Porizingis. "He's probably way ahead of the curve. When I was 20, I was scared to death out there. ... He's almost averaging a double-double, so he's way better than I was at 20. So the comparison's probably unfair to me."
Nowitzki's success has spawned an endless list of imitators, and an even longer line of pretenders. Almost every European big who can shoot (think Andrea Bargnani and Nikoloz Tskitishvili) has drawn comparisons to Nowitzki, and almost every player has come up short.
But the 7-foot-3 Porzingis is turning heads everywhere he goes. He earned Rookie of the Month honors in November and as Nowitzki said, he's even outpacing what Nowitzki accomplished as a 20-year-old rookie.
| Statistic | Porzingis | Nowitzki |
|---|---|---|
| PPG | 14.6 | 8.2 |
| RPG | 8.9 | 3.4 |
| BPG | 1.9 | 0.6 |
| PER | 20.5 | 12.8 |
| TS% | 55.1 | 49.1 |
The hard part for Porzingis is to replicate Nowitzki's rise to prominence in his second and third seasons. By the age of 22, Nowitzki was already averaging 21.8 points per game while leading a 53-win squad for the Mavericks.
But all in due time for the talented Latvian.
"He's for real," Nowitzki added. "We've said it before. He's tougher than you think. He's long. He's athletic. He can put the ball on the floor. ... The sky's the limit for this kid, not only because he's good but also because I heard he lives and breathes basketball. He stays in the gym, he works hard and doesn't let all this hype here get to his head. You've (got) to root for him."