Kevin Knox: Story of how an 18 year old future NBA player got booed on draft night

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" were the sounds that erupted from Knicks fans present to watch the NBA draft in person. There were probably similar sounds from some Knicks fans from around the world. The key word is some. I'm assuming that many fans of the New York franchise find it classless to boo a kid who just got drafted, while they also have learned their lesson after Kristaps Porzingis

Let's rewind three years ago

The Knicks are on the clock with the fourth pick in the 2015 NBA draft. Karl Anthony Towns, D'Angelo Russell, and Jahlil Okafor are all of the board, leaving some Knicks fans hoping the team would draft point guard Emmanuel Mudiay. Mudiay had just come off a mediocre season playing overseas in China following a very successful high school career where he was ranked as a 5-star recruit and a top 5 in his high school class. He seemed to be a potential point guard of the future at the time, and it got fans excited.

Adam Silver comes to the podium and announces the Knicks pick. Problem is that it isn't Mudiay, instead it is a tall, skinny, Latvian player by the name of Kristaps Porzingis. The room erupted in boos and as Knicks fans thought this was just another dumb move by their president, Phil Jackson. Except it wasn't. It has been three years since that moment, and Kristaps has proven so many people wrong. Prior to his injury, Porzingis was averaging 23 points, 6 and a half rebounds, and 2 and a half blocks per game.

On the other hand, Mudiay has just come off a season where he put up around 8 and a half points with 3 and a half assists a game. In fact, Mudiay was traded for close to nothing to New York during the trade deadline this year. So New York, congrats! You got Mudiay after all. The point is that you can't judge your pick before they even set foot on an NBA court. Many doubted the Porzingis pick, but now he could very well be the centrepiece of the Knicks franchise for years to come.

Today in 2018, a similar event occurred where the Knicks drafted Kevin Knox with the 9th pick of the draft. The fans were expecting Michael Porter Jr., a former top 3 high school player of his class, who had undergone a back surgery that made his stock plummet to the 14th pick. In fact, after the boos, there were some people chanting "WE WANT PORTER!"

Kevin Knox isn't even 18 yet, and he got booed on national television on arguably the biggest night of his life. He isn't a horrible prospect and was expected to be drafted around this range. Knox is one of the youngest players in the draft and is a raw prospect that could become in theory a solid two-way player. His size and speed could allow him to become a good defender, and he is very versatile offensively. He did not put up big numbers at Kentucky, but he did show flashes of potential. Porter Jr. is coming off a serious injury and was a very risky pick. The Knicks decided to pick up a talented young player to add to their core that is not as much of a risk, and there were fans who were just in complete disbelief.

Knox could potentially be one of the best players in the draft, at worst he could be a solid rotational player that provides some scoring off the bench. It is way too early to boo the pick, without knowing the outcome of his career in comparison to Porter's. They both need to prove their worth. Don't make the same mistake as they did for Porzingis, we all saw how that turned out. The kid who cried at the draft now owns a Porzingis jersey.

Maybe booing Knox will motivate him to play as well as Porzingis?