New Knicks forward Marcus Morris said he did not expect legendary Spurs coach Gregg Popovich to call him out this week for reneging on his verbal commitment to sign with San Antonio, but admitted he felt badly how it played out.

“I was very surprised, but I have nothing but respect for Pop,” Morris said after Thursday’s training-camp practice. “Obviously, they made a big move and on my side things weren’t clear for me, so I made a decision based on what I knew and for my family. I hope nothing but the best going forward this season. I’m in New York now. I’m just ready to get started.”

Popovich said Monday that Morris’ act “blindsided’’ his team, which had already shipped young forward Davis Bertans to Washington to make salary cap space for a two-year, $20 million deal with Morris.

“It was more than difficult to lose Davis,” Popovich said. “Let’s just say that was an unfortunate situation that was handled unprofessionally on a couple of different levels.’’

Morris eventually took the Knicks’ one-year, $15 million offer, saying he wanted to be closer to home. Asked if he felt badly, Morris said, “At the end of the day, yeah, because they made a move and they had a great young player and I feel bad that it had to happen that way.”

As luck would have it, the Knicks open the regular season in San Antonio on Oct. 23 and rabid Spurs fans are expected to greet Morris harshly.

“I’m from North Philly, man,’’ Morris said. “You’re talking about a crowd. You boo me, you boo me. Hey, I’ve been booed before. I have nothing but love for Pop and [former general manager] R.C. [Buford] and [new GM] Brian Wright and them guys down there. I know them personally and I’m sad it had to happen that way but it’s the NBA.”

Morris fired his agent Rich Paul, who wanted to stick with the verbal commitment, over the incident.

“I made the decision off of unknown situations from things that me and my agent had discussed,’’ Morris said. “I wanted to take my career in my own hands and that’s the decision I made.”

Morris is more worried about making the Knicks tough again.

“Old school Knicks,’’ Morris said when asked about the team’s identity. “Protect the Garden. My biggest thing is no one’s coming in there and disrespecting us. Matter of fact, I know we got the guys that’s going to stand up and that’s going to fight every night.”