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Kristaps Porzingis turned to Instagram to dispute Knicks coach David Fizdale.
Fizdale said Thursday that Porzingis had not progressed recently in rehab and the Latvian was still doing “light running …. Sprinting, he’s not at that level yet.”
A short time later, Porzingis, who tore his ACL last February, posted two photos in an Instagram story that appear to show him sprinting. He added a third one of UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov with the caption “This is number one bulls–t.”
The good news: Porzingis is perhaps further along in his rehab. The bad news: He is not on the same page with his new coach.
Fizdale visited Porzingis in Europe this offseason and the two appeared to forge a bond, though it is unclear if the relationship between Porzingis and the franchise was strained when it opted not to offer the power forward a contract extension by the Oct. 15 deadline.
The timeline for Porzingis’ return has been tough to determine, with December considered a longshot, best-case scenario. Knicks owner James Dolan suggested to The Post that Porzingis could miss the whole season, as well.
The Knicks, who are off to a 4-8 start, would struggle to make the playoffs with or without Porzingis, so some have argued for a cautious approach.
“Just mentally for me,” Fizdale said. “That’s somewhere else. I don’t want to get distracted personally as the coach, worried about if and when he’s coming back. I’d rather be focused on the day-to-day task with these guys, and when he gets back, that’ll just be a gift for me. You can get distracted as a coach, caught up in that world of when and hopefully soon and you lose focus on what you’re doing. And these guys deserve my undivided attention.”
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