Kevin Knox isn't used to watching his team play from the sideline, but the Knicks rookie says his view from the bench still brings value while he works his way back from an early-season ankle sprain.
"I really enjoy watching on the side because I can really see the game from a different perspective," Knox told the New York Post on Tuesday. "It's really fun to watch on the side, they talk, the way they move the ball, defensively. These past few games I was on the bench watching it was pretty great. I got to talk to players on the bench, tell them what they can do better, more and more leadership I can bring to the team."
Knox, the Knicks' first-round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, sprained his left ankle on Oct. 20 against the Celtics. He's missed the last four games and will be out Wednesday night against the Pacers, but will travel with the Knicks to Dallas and Washington this weekend. He has participated in shooting and non-contact drills in practice this week.
While his father, Kevin Knox Sr., expects the 19-year-old to return sometime between Nov. 2-10, the youngster said there's no timetable and no big hurry.
"I'm a lot better," Knox said, per the Post. "I'm getting there. I'm pretty close to getting back., But as of right now I really have no timetable."
"[There's] no rushing at all," he added. "I'm young. Of course I'm going to heal faster than most older guys, but we just make sure that when I come back I'm at least 100 to 110 percent. We're not rushing anything. Once I don't feel pain at all, that's probably the time I'm going to come back. I mean, 82 games, a lot of years to play, I don't want to risk nothing else."
Knox called it the "worst injury" he's had since high school, which makes sense -- the forward started in all 37 games with Kentucky in his lone collegiate season last year.