November 22, 2016. Sometime between 9:30pm and 10:30 pm ET. With roughly four minutes to go in a tightly contested game, Carmelo Anthony misses a contested midrange jump-shot. That basket would have put the Knicks up 100-99 against the Portland Trailblazers. The Madison Square Garden crowd voiced their displeasure with a barrage of boos directed at the 9-time All-Star and the face of the franchise.

https://streamable.com/1ede

This is not the first time Knicks fans booed Carmelo Anthony this season either. The rationale behind the fans displeasure has nothing to do with missing shots or the team’s overall play, but rather the impending of ball movement and not getting the ball to Kristaps Porzingis. Porzingis has gotten off to a fantastic start this season, which includes two 30-plus point performances on efficient shooting and an array of new offensive moves. Stepback 3-point shots, smooth cuts down the lane, pushing the ball in transition, and Dirk Nowitzki’s signature fadeaway — all of which have been executed at least once this season.

It does not matter that Anthony has a true shooting percentage of 56%, which is only 0.8% off his career high, or is tied for 12th in isolation PPP (a minimum of 15 isolation possession) with only Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard having better PPP figures on similar volume, or improved his catch-and-shoot eFG% significantly from 52.4% last season to 62.7% this season, or that his field goal attempts are a career low as a Knick. Knicks fans simply do not want to see ISO Melo anymore — they want to see ball movement and their mystical 7’3 Unicorn do things 7-footers should not be doing with grace and elegance.

Despite the justifiable praise for Kristaps and the desire to watch him get the ball as much as possible, it is completely disingenuous for Knicks fans to boo Anthony. These are the same fans who booed (some cried) when the organization selected some tall, lanky white kid with a funny sounding name and from an Eastern European country most Americans cannot locate on a map. Now they want that same lanky kid to get the ball on every possession down the floor. Furthermore, Knicks fans are booing a player who has been nothing but loyal to the Knicks, during an era when star players leaving is frowned upon, genuinely wanted to come play for the organization despite his friends shunning the organization to play in Miami, and has put up great numbers and performances (are we just going to forget Melo’s 62 point performance at MSG?). Fans are just going to boo Anthony just because some new, young, and enticing hot piece of basketball ass, who they originally did not want in favor of players like Justice Winslow, is entertaining them more?

Not only are fans booing Carmelo Anthony, there is a number of individuals in Knicks fandom and the media who believe the organization should be focusing on building around Porzingis instead of trying to be competitive. Phil Jackson and the Knicks front office have and are criticized for a number of his personnel moves: giving Anthony a no-trade clause, trading Robin Lopez and Jerian Grant for Derrick Rose when both Lopez and Grant were on team-friendly contracts, and signing Joakim Noah to a 4-year deal are the most notable ones. These specific roster decisions all fall under the umbrella criticism of not “tanking,” or not building a team “the right way,” which is acquiring top young talent to grow with Porzingis, via the draft lottery.

I discussed the topics of rebuilding and the Knicks’ direction back in the offseason, so I would suggest you give that article a read so I do not have to into great detail here. The tl;dr version of the aforementioned article is that surrounding Porzingis with high-quality veterans, playing meaningful games, and maintaining financial flexibility while having all of their first-round draft picks moving forward is a logical team-building approach for the Knicks, and beneficial for Porzingis’ development.

And don’t just take my word on this. Earlier in the week, ESPN’s Ian Begley quoted The Unicorn himself saying the following:

Without Melo, it would be much more difficult for me to get those 30 points, or 28. People don’t realize that. But that’s how it is. He draws a lot of attention, and he’s the main focus for the other team. That opens up stuff for me. So without him, it would be much more difficult. I’m happy to have him and D-Rose and guys who are really aggressive driving to the basket, who draw so much attention for me to be able to get those wide-open looks and then attack. It’s good sometimes that we have that. Without them, it would be much more difficult.

For the fans and media members who clamor for Porzingis to be the franchise player immediately and ridding the roster of Carmelo Anthony (and to a lesser extent Derrick Rose), Kristaps does not agree with you at all. A big part of the reason why Porzingis has been so damn good so far this season is because of the defensive attention both Melo and Rose draw. Furthermore, the numbers support Porzingis’ assessment. Check out the figures below for this year when Porzingis is on the court with and without Anthony and Rose, per nbawowy.com:

Porzingis is not the same, effective player when either or both Anthony and Rose are off the court. KP’s usage increases noticeably, but his points per possession, effective field goal percentage, and true shooting percentages drop considerably. The gravity and attention opposing defenses have to give Anthony and Rose provide Porzingis with those easy shots. Teams have to double Melo when he is scoring with ease in one-on-one situations and cannot allow him to have open catch-and-shoot opportunities. Teams have to respect Rose’s ability to get to the rim, as he is in the top 20 in drives to the basket and his 55.8% shooting on drives is better than other high-volume drivers like Isaiah Thomas, Russell Westbrook, Demar Derozan, John Wall, Goran Dragic, Dennis Schroeder, Jeff Teague, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jeremy Lin.

As appealing as pairing Porzingis with one of the elite guard prospects in this draft like Markelle Fultz, Dennis Smith, or Frank Ntilikina, or even an elite wing prospect like Josh Jackson or Jayson Tatum sounds, playing with Carmelo Anthony, Derrick Rose, and the rest of the Knicks roster allows KP to develop and mature at his own pace and without the scrutiny of being the face of the New York Knicks.

And not having to deal with the vitriol of the New York and national media has been one of the more overlooked benefits of playing alongside other star players. Porzingis receives all of the praise, glory, and memes when he performs well, while Anthony, Rose, Jackson, and the triangle offense receive the brunt of the blame when the team performs poorly. Not having to deal with ridicule while developing allows Porzingis to solely focus on improving this game and preparing for when the media does decide to turn a God into a mere mortal.

The “rebuild around Porzingis” is a very easy position for a fan to take because the hope of a brighter future is better than any other state of fandom, outside of consistent title contender. If the Knicks aren’t going to contend for a title, why bother, right? However, rebuilding an NBA franchise isn’t as simple as in NBA 2K where all you have to do is draft the prospects with the highest “potential” metric. Unlike years before, the Knicks finally have all of their first round picks, financial flexibility, and a potential franchise player in development. That’s a good place to be in. There is no need to rush Porzingis into becoming the franchise player while trying to kick Anthony to the curb. If Knicks fans want Porzingis to keep putting up the numbers and highlights he has so far this season, he needs Melo by his side.