All Barkley, no bite: Sir Charles praises Knicks’ direction

LOS ANGELES — Charles Barkley won’t kick the Knicks when they’re down.

The legendary TNT mouthpiece believes “you people in New York” need more patience with Kristaps Porzingis, as well as with the club’s future, saying the franchise is building something sturdy.

Barkley even said he thinks Porzingis’ catastrophic ACL tear, which may jeopardize next season, too, could benefit the franchise in the long run, though he added the incident was “really sad.”

“He was on the right track to being a helluva player,” Barkley said outside Staples Center during All-Star weekend festivities. “It’s really unfortunate. They had done a good job. I like the [Frank] Ntilikina guy. [Tim] Hardaway Jr. was playing well. I still love the [Enes] Kanter deal.

“The Knicks are going to get better. The problem with you people in New York is you all have zero patience. If you keep drafting and adding players, sooner or later, you’re going to have a good team. But they never have patience in New York.”

The fan base now deals with their franchise player rehabbing from ACL surgery that should take between nine and 12 months.

“It will probably be good for the Knicks in the long run,” Barkley said. “Because you’re all in a position of getting pingpong balls. Hypothetically, if you did make the playoffs this year and you’re eighth seed, you’re going to lose in the first round. Now you’re going to get another lottery pick. I think the Knicks are building toward a future.”

Barkley still has faith in the 22year-old Porzingis despite durability issues. In early December, Porzingis leveled off after an MVP-like start but that has caused no alarm for Barkley. Porzingis finished the season playing 48 games. He has missed 60 games in his first three seasons.

“When a guy’s 22, I don’t think you’re going to notice he had an ACL in a couple of years,” Barkley said. “The way you can work on these guys today and him being so young. … If he was 35, I’d be concerned. I got more hope for him than [DeMarcus] Cousins. That [Achilles tear] Boogie got is devastating. I don’t mean to be morbid, but I think he’d rather tear an ACL than an Achilles.” Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray, playing in the Rising Stars Challenge, beat out Emmanuel Mudiay for the job in training camp and is the reason Mudiay now is a Knick. While Murray called Mudiay “a great teammate” and said “we miss him already,”, he knew he needed change.

“Any time you start — ask any player — he has a right to be upset,” Murray said. “Anytime you go from starter and you’re minutes go down and down, not just him, any player, you’re going to see the same result. Can’t put that on him. He has a better opportunity in New York, can have a little fun. New York’s a great city. He’ll do well with that team.”