Carmelo Anthony describes relationship with Kristaps Porzingis as “organic”

If the Knicks are going to be good sooner rather than later, it’s most likely going to be in large part because Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis can make it work together. And Phil Jackson gets improved talent around them, including another elite star, but that’s another conversation for another day.

While there were early rumors to the contrary, the relationship between Anthony and Porzingis is a good one. They may not be banana boat level buddies, they work well together.

Here is what Anthony told ESPN’s Ian Begley about conversations on the bench with Porzingis during games.

“Sometimes throughout the course of the game, it’s a running conversation. Sometimes he has question: ‘What you think about this, what you think about that?’ I give my input. Obviously he accepts it because he keeps coming aback for the advice and the input. I’m more than welcome to sit there and talk to him. What we have is not forced, it’s organic. I try not to force it, he tries not to force it. it just comes naturally.”

Those two guys can work together, they can play together.

Whether that is what is best for building the Knicks for long-term success is a different discussion (I don’t think their career arcs intersect in a way that works for NY), but there is a connection between the two. They both speak basketball. It’s better than where the Knicks were a couple years ago.