Knicks' Rookie Draft Pick: Kristaps Porzingis is Bulking Up, Can't Be Next Shawn Bradley

When the New York Knicks announced that their draft pick was European basketball player, Kristaps Porzingis, Knicks fans were not pleased one bit. This is mostly because the rookie won't be delivering immediate results, which is also due to his height-weight ratio. And even though president of the Knicks, Phil Jackson admitted is true and later compared Porzingis to Shawn Bradley, Porzingis was chosen anyway. This apparently impacted the European player, as he's determined to make a change.

As reported by the New York Post, Porzingis has a naturally, exceedingly tall and slender frame, which doesn't make him the best contender as a dominant player in the league. Although Jackson previously compared Porzingis to Kevin Durant and Dirk Nowitski, claiming that he is a combination of the two, the former Laker coach also stated that Porzingis' lack of strength could potentially turn him into Shawn Bradley, who was 7-foot-6, and essentially a bit too tall, and never really made it as a cornerstone of an NBA franchise, although he did manage to play 12 seasons:

"Like Shawn Bradley, who was nevertheless a pretty good player, KP might almost be too tall for the game. What I mean is that his core strength might never be good enough, and that he might not be able to get low enough to get himself into prime defensive position to body power rebounders or drivers."

As per Yahoo News, Porzongis is 7'3", which is pretty tall, even for a basketball player. So it's only evident that Porzongis' career may end up similar to Bradley's.

But it seems as though Porzongis isn't having any of it. He's taking Jackson's comments as a form of motivation. Therefore, he's now doing everything he can to potentially change Jackson's mind and rid him of any second thoughts. Prozongis decided to bulk up by consuming 5,000 calories per day, which happens to include three steaks!

"I guess that's what Phil does, gets us to work hard and fired up. That fired me up. I'm like, 'I'm not Shawn Bradley,' you know?" he said, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. "I want to be better than Shawn Bradley obviously and be stronger than him, but I'm a different player."

There is some truth to the fact that they are different players; Porzingis is definitely very different when it comes to his offense, and  he's a great three-point shooter. Maybe if he manages to transform his body to allow him to be a stronger defender, the Knicks and fans won't have to worry about Porzingis becoming a novelty act as Bradley became.