Knicks head coach David Fizdale wanted to orchestrate a meeting between budding star Kevin Knox and one of the greatest players of all-time in LeBron James.
He was able to do so after Sunday's win over the Lakers.
Knox said he received some guidance and reassurance from James when he met with him after New York beat Los Angeles 124-123 on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
"That's just a great feeling," Knox said in an interview with MSG before Monday's Knicks-Raptors game. "I've always dreamed about talking with one of the greatest of all-time, and I appreciate Fiz for giving me an opportunity to chop it up a little bit with him. Just to know he's been watching me, know my percentages, know what I'm averaging and stuff like that show that he really watches and cares about my game. When he tells me I can be very special, I take that to heart."
Knox, who scored 19 points and brought down six rebounds in 37 minutes, has averaged 12.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and one assist in his rookie season. He said one of the main takeaways was when James, the three-time NBA champion, told him he needed to be more than a scorer.
"Just to go out and compete at a high level and compete every single night," Knox said of what he took away from James. "He said you've got to find out other ways to impact the game other than scoring. He's one of the best to ever do it as far as scoring, rebounds, assists, all that. He gets everyone involved. He said that'll get better over time."
Knox did admit he has had an inconsistent rookie season. For example, he scored a career-high 31 points on 12-of-23 shooting on Jan. 13, but followed that game with a five-point effort on 2-of-11 shooting on Jan. 17.
But James said Knox shouldn't stress too much about the inconsistencies.
"He was asking how my rookie year was, I told him it was a lot of ups and downs, I was struggling a little bit, I play really well and stuff like that," Knox said. "He said it's all a roller coaster. He said ... there's a lot of superstars now that go up and down, so he said basically don't worry about that."
The 19-year-old Knox also told James he deleted social media apps off his phones so he can focus on his rookie season, adding James believed that was a smart decision.
"[James] said that's a great idea," Knox said. "He said social media can really be something hard to watch and listen to and look at."
Fizdale, who was an assistant coach with the Heat when James played with Miami, said James and Knox spoke for around 10-12 minutes, according to the New York Post's Marc Berman.
"It's crazy," Knox said. "Fiz has made me meet a lot of people. ... Throughout any struggles, it's always good to have somebody you can go to that's actually been in the league and gone through what you've been through."
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