By Doug Ammon, NBA International
As the NBA’s next crop of stars take their ceremonial class photograph, one player in particular stands out. Donning a deep burgundy suit with subtle black checkers and a crisp white and red bow tie, Frank Ntilikina certainly looks the part of an NBA draft pick.
He stands surrounded by a who’s who from the past season’s collegiate basketball world. Players like Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, De’Aaron Fox, and Jonathan Issac to name a few, engulf Ntilikina as players who jumped out of television screens around the country as they proved themselves as elite prospects and dominated the country’s perennial powerhouse NCAA teams.
But, the 6’5″ Ntilikina already has something none of his fellow draftees can list on their stacked to the basketball brim résumés. Frank Ntilikina has been a professional basketball player for the past two years and signed his first pro deal at the age of 17 with the SIG Strasbourg in France’s first division French LNB Pro A.
“I think it definitely helped me to play against grown men, adults, and to play against some of the guys that went into the NBA actually,” Ntilikina told the media in his first press conference after hearing his name called. “Like I had teammates that played in the NBA, former Mav Rodrigue Beaubois, former Knick Mardy Collins, so actually every teammate can help you to make the transition, young championship to the professional championship actually, so it helps a lot.”
Ntilikina’s basketball journey began at the age of four with his brother in a park outside his hometown of Strasbourg.
“I fell in love with the sport when I played with my brother and actually we played a lot in the park. I was trying to play basketball every day, and when I couldn’t with my team, I was every day going to the park trying to play,” Ntilikina said. “It all started close to my city, close to my house. It’s called la Citadelle.”
While Ntilikina’s game began in the parks of France he now finds himself playing in the street ball capital of the world, inside what many have claimed is the Mecca of basketball, Madison Square Garden, for none other than the New York Knicks.
New York selected Ntilikina with the eighth overall pick ahead of American collegiate stars, Dennis Smith Jr., Malik Monk, and Duke’s Luke Kennard. The pressure of playing in a place like New York is immense even before you step on the hallowed Garden floor but Ntilikina appeared poised and prepared on the post-draft podium.
“What I will bring to the Knicks, actually a lot of hope,” he told the assembled media. I think I’m a player who will trust the process, work hard, and definitely try to be the best player I can be, who will give energy. I think I’m a team
point guard and or shooting guard. I’ll just try to make my teammates be better every day, and I think I can play defense, too.”
Hope is something the Knicks certainly could use as the one of the world’s most recognizable basketball franchise’s has not made the postseason since the 2012-13 season. But, Ntilikina’s intriguing international style of play should mesh well with a team that’s often been a home for international players, most recently Kristaps Porzingis.
“To be drafted and to play in a place that already has international players is just great to adapt to the environment, like, and to play with them, to have a lot of advice of how they feel, how they felt on the court, how was their rookie season, it’s just like great for me,” he said.
While teaming with a fellow international product like Porzingis is intriguing nothing can truly prepare a player for what it’s like to suit up for the New York Knicks inside Madison Square Garden.
“Actually you can’t realize until it happens. Like I’ve been actually playing my season with my team back in France, and when the last game, the fourth game with my team ended, like I just realized I was getting drafted in two days, you know,” Ntilikina said.
Initial shock and awe had clearly subsided before Ntilikina began his press conference. He coolly and honestly answered the questions thrown his way, a true testament to the kind of polish of someone who’s already played the pro game. Despite his demeanor, Ntilikina is the second youngest player to be drafted on Thursday night, still a month and change away from his 19th birthday.
When he does eventually take the floor in the white, orange and blue of the Knicks their fans will be witnessing a player who many regarded as a player with what could be the most upside in the entirety of the draft.
Ntilikina posses elite size for a point guard at 6’5″ with a 7’0″ wingspan as well as having a knack for playing the position as a true floor general and someone who makes the players around him better. He has a wildly explosive first step that allows him to accelerate around defenders and create his own shot. He complements his driving ability with what can be a deft shooting touch from outside if given space.
But, there’s one trait that immediately comes out of his mouth when asked what he brings to a NBA roster, “Like I said first, I think I’m a great defender, and someone’s who willing to defend. I’m willing to play hard, and to give intensity to the team and the offense. I’m a team player. I always try to give the best to the team no matter what happens. To me the most important thing is to get the win. I like to shoot it, to pass it, and then play pick-and-roll.”
Winning is objective number one for these incoming rookies and in particular for Ntilikina as he looks to make a splash in the Big Apple. It will be the key ingredient to a recipe that starving Knicks fans have been clamoring for for far too long.
When asked what this experience has been like Ntilikina said wide-eyed, “Crazy, crazy exciting. Like I think that’s what we play for, basketball, to have a lot of emotion, and definitely this week is one of the craziest weeks I’ve been through in my whole life.”
It’s about to get a lot crazier for Frank Ntilikina but he wouldn’t have it any other way. A journey that started a world away has now come full circle on the world’s biggest stage for one the most recognizable teams on the planet.
Getting recognized doesn’t seem to phase the young Frenchman though as Ntilikina and his bright burgundy blazer saunter off the podium stage and the real work begins.
