Bobby Portis made a strong statement against the Bulls on Oct. 28 with 28 points, including 11 in the final seven minutes of a Knicks win.
If Wendell Carter Jr. can back up his words, it won’t happen again.
“We’re not letting that happen,” Carter said on Monday. “Bobby’s going to come on and want to put on a show. I’m not going to have it. I hope he watches this. I ain’t having that.”
Turns out Portis did watch that. Portis talked to reporters Tuesday at the United Center at shootaround and wasn’t getting sucked into a war of words with his former teammate.
“I saw that video,” Portis said with a smile. “It was kind of funny at the same time. But you know that’s my guy. I was with him when he first came into the league last year. We were best of friends. Me, him and Antonio Blakeney, all of us were like a little trio that we all hung out each and every day off the court and all that. I think it’s kind of cool to see his progression this year. He’s been having a monster year, getting double-doubles every game.”
So Portis elected not to take the bait and talk back to Carter. Even Carter admitted the two are still friends after he made his declaration on Monday.
NBA
This isn’t turning into a heated personal rivalry by any stretch and Portis wouldn’t call games against the Bulls “revenge games.” That said, he knows exactly how many times he’s faced the Bulls since he was traded away.
Portis played the Bulls three times with the Wizards after being traded in February. The Bulls-Knicks game earlier this season made it four games against the Bulls. He has three double-doubles and is averaging 18.3 points and 9.5 rebounds in those games.
“I don’t look at it as a revenge game,” Portis said. “I look at it as us as a team trying to come in here and just try to steal one on the road. We need it in the worst way.”
As if Portis didn’t get a bit extra attention against his former team as it was, now eyes will be on Carter and Portis to see how they react after talking through the media.
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