Hornets center Willy Hernangomez sounded upset at the vicious crowd reaction his former Knicks buddy Kristaps Porzingis got Thursday, indicating maybe they don’t have the full story.
“I think everybody can think what they want but I feel bad for KP,” said Hernangomez, the Knicks’ second-round pick in 2015. “He’s my brother. We spent too many nights in this amazing arena. I understand what people [do]. The people always treated me good when I was here and appreciated. But I was sad when I saw that.”
“Like KP’s comments after the game, they know what they know,” the amiable Spanish center added. “KP knows what happened. People just see what they see in public. But fans can do whatever they want, but I just feel sad because he did a lot for the community, the city and this team.”
There’s speculation Porzingis held it against the Knicks for trading his friend, though Hernangomez asked for a trade over playing time. Should the Knicks have made Hernangomez happier considering their friendship? The Knicks got back two future second-round picks and installed Luke Kornet as their new center.
“We’re professionals,” Hernangomez said. “He wanted me on the team because we’re really close but I wanted to play basketball. He wanted to play basketball. It’s our job. We had a lot of time in the summer to spend together. We’d love to play together, you never know if we will play soon. I don’t know if he was mad, but we missed each other.”
Hernangomez, who has played in just three games, is a free agent next summer. Don’t be shocked if Mavs owner Mark Cuban makes a run.
