Phil Jackson appears to have Porzingis fever.

“There’s the magical element to this young man that has caught the admiration of the fan base here in New York City and people around the country that follow the Knicks,” Jackson said of rookie Kristaps Porzingis in an interview with Sirius XM NBA hosts Rick Fox and Jared Greenberg. “In seeing this guy, he’s got the right temperament, the right attitude; he carries himself well.”

Porzingis has surprised many around the NBA with a strong start in his rookie season. He enters Wednesday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers averaging 13.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in 31.5 minutes.

“He seems to have a very calm, balanced nature about his game. It’s a learning process," Jackson said in his first public comments of the season. "I see growth almost from game to game and that’s really, that’s the ticket that you look at as you watch a young player. Is he developing? Is he learning? What’s the next matchup that he’s going to have to vs. a player he’s seen before? How is he learning to deal with the physical nature of our game, the speed of our game?”

Porzingis seems to have aced all of those early-season tests.

Many analysts and fans questioned Jackson’s decision on draft night to select the 7-foot-3 skinny Latvian back in June.

Jackson was asked on Wednesday if he’s pleased that fans have now embraced Porzingis. It was a question that might have prompted an "I told you so" from Jackson, the 13-time NBA champion coach. But he declined to take credit for the rookie’s success.

“Not me; it’s all on him,” he said. “This is the young man who has done it. ... I’m just happy that the personality and the drive and the work ethic [matches the] talent level.”

Before the season, Jackson and the coaching staff had concerns about his stamina. Jackson says Knicks coaches thought Porzingis might have trouble playing 24 minutes per game. But on nights when he's stayed out of foul trouble, Porzingis has played at least 30 minutes recently.

"We’ve been pleasantly surprised that he has the stamina, the strength and the athleticism to play a duration of time in the game ... and has been very effective on the court," Jackson said.