EURO TRASHED!
Porzingis livens up rivalry week by ripping Nets & their fans,
MIKHAIL PROKHOROV once vowed to turn Knicks fans into Nets fans, but Kristaps Porzingis is working the reverse on the N.Y. streets.
“Sometimes I see someone with a Brooklyn hat on, I say, ‘What is that? You need a Knicks hat,’” Porzingis said. “I joke around with them. Sometimes I seem them. Not as many as Knicks fans, though.”
This Knicks-Nets rivalry - which will resume Friday in the Garden -- may have less juice than a grape flattened by a steamroller, but don’t tell that to Porzingis. He’s enjoying the lead-up to his first interborough experience. While the Jets and Giants have been playing nice all week, Porzingis, with a smile and a few lines needling Nets fans on Thursday, the 20-yearold added to his popularity among the Knicks supporters.
“I know our fans are better than Brooklyn’s fans,” Porzingis said on the same day he won the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for October/November, becoming the first Knick to win the award since Chris Copeland during the 2012-13 season.
“It will be a good game. Brooklyn, they’re struggling this season,” Porzingis added. “But they will try to win the rivalry as we want to win.” Porzingis’ lone experience in Brooklyn was probably the lowpoint of his otherwise great relationship with Knicks fans, when he was booed on draft night at Barclays Center. The Latvian always said he wanted to be a member of the Knicks, and was exposed to the franchise while playing and living overseas. The Nets? Not so much. “Everybody knows Knicks but not really the Nets,” Porzingis said. “But yeah, I remember more of the New Jersey Nets than the Brooklyn Nets growing up. But yeah, it’s Lakers, Knicks, Bulls, those kind teams (we heard about in Europe).”
The Nets (5-13) are riding their first two-game winning streak of the season, but have especially struggled on the road with a 1-10 record away from Barclays Center. The Knicks (9-10) were swept by Brooklyn last season, a fact that coach
Derek Fisher used to justify his day-at-theoffice attitude about Thursday.
“We didn’t win a game against them last year so we’re not really a rival,” he said. “So it’s a just a game for us.”
Fisher was involved for many years in another intra-city rivalry between the Lakers and Clippers, which he doesn’t think is comparable.
“I don’t think the Nets history in Brooklyn is long enough. They weren’t even in New York until 3 years ago,” he said.
Porzingis, however, was having more fun with it, having experienced intense geographical rivalries while playing in Europe.
“Obviously we want to win the game (Friday) on our court with our fans there,” he said. “It would be even better to beat Brooklyn.’’
On the other side of the bridge where the Nets still practice in New Jersey, Brooklyn point guard Jarrett Jack relayed a story about a trash-talking Knicks fan.
“I was doing some Christmas shopping and the guy that was helping me was like “Yeah, thanks for your business. But (Friday) you know it’s on,” Jack told reporters. “I’m like, ‘Give me my damn receipt so I can get the hell out of here. I’m trying to get this s--- grift-wrapped. I don’t have time for this.
“That’s moreso what you have to deal with, than coming from the players. More people would be like ‘We like y’all, but you know I’m a Knicks fan, so you know what it is.’ Whatever man.”