New York Post

Frank gets tips about LeBron habits

- By MARC BERMAN

Strasbourg veteran Romeo Travis has given a ton of advice to his teammate of two seasons, Frank Ntilikina, even preaching to him the gospel of LeBron James.

Travis is James’ childhood friend from Akron, Ohio, and the former power forward on James’ renowned high school juggernaut, St. Vincent-St. Mary.

Yes, Ntilikina, who will wear a Knicks jersey for the first time Wednesday at their f irst summer-league practice in Orlando, Fla., has asked the 32-year-old Travis about James. A lot.

“He’s asked a lot of general questions,’’ Travis told The Post on his return to Ohio after Strasbourg lost the French league championsh­ip Friday in the decisive Game 5.

“Does he work hard? Stuff like that. I tell him he’s one of the hardest-working persons I’ve ever seen. When he has an off-court engagement, he brings a personal trainer with him, meal plan prepared by chefs. He’s like, ‘I have stuff to do off the court, but I’m going to take care of what gets me there.’ That’s what I told Frank. But Frank already works very hard.’’

Travis, who said he is in frequent communicat­ion with James, played against Ntilikina’s new teammate, Carmelo Anthony, in high school when St. Vincent-St. Mary faced Anthony’s Oak Hill Academy. Travis said he hopes, sooner than later, James finally gets to be teammates with his buddy from the Knicks.

Travis, who has played in eight different countries, and the on-the-block Anthony are only acquaintan­ces, but he has followed Anthony’s career closely.

“I love Melo’s game, love his demeanor off the court and his profession­alism, the way he’s handled [the Phil Jackson] situation,’’ Travis said. ’’

Nti likin a flew from France straight to Orlando after his whirlwind week. After flying in to the New York area after Game 4 last week for the draft, Ntilikina was on a charter flight back to France in time for Game 5, hours after getting selected by the Knicks at No. 8. Despite being jet-lagged, N tili kin a played well in the Game 5 loss to Chalon, scoring nine points, shooting 4- of -6 in a nine-point loss.

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